Her Puzzle Pieces
by dreamcapturer
Summary: Born as the heiress of wealthy Yukihira family, young Mikan's life changed when her parents died. Now a twenty-one years old college student, she discovered the existence of Alices: people with super-human abilities kept secret from the world. Unaware of her own powerful Alice lineage, Mikan journeys to find herself again and collect the pieces of her past.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

I remembered the cold and heavy rain.

The universe mourned with me for weeks, as I cried my heart out again, and again, until all that left was a lingering pain.

"I'm so sorry, Mikan."

Slowly, I looked up and saw a tall figure looming over my curled eight-years-old body against a big oak tree. He held out a black umbrella, then knelt on the wet grass, trying to cover me from the pouring water. His suit was getting soaked, and I felt guilty for making him go through this.

"My name is Takeshi, and I'm a close friend of your parents," he said carefully with a gentle and empathetic tone, "I'm a lawyer. Have you heard of a lawyer before?"

I stared at his dark grey eyes, and realized I had seen him talking to my parents before.

"Please come with me, Mikan. Everything's going to be okay," he coaxed again, and this time he reached his hand out. My eyes felt warm and tears slowly ran down my cheek.

"Nothing's going to be okay. Nothing."

He pulled out a handkerchief and slowly wiped my tears, "Everything will be okay, Mikan. I will make sure of that, you can trust me."

Takeshi-san helped me stand up and guided me back to the house.

 _Everything seemed blurry._

Inside the living room, someone was apparently waiting for me. A beautiful woman with dark ebony hair gave me a sad smile, and draped a white towel around my shivering body. She gave me a tight hug and whispered, "Don't cry anymore, Mikan-chan. Your parents loved you so much."

I started sobbing and buried my face deeper on her shoulder, "If they loved me, then w-why did they leave?"

It had been a week since my parents died in a car accident.

.

They were supposed to return home from a business trip that day, but they never came back. The past week had been dark and painful. I've been telling myself that life is not fair. Why were they taken from me? We never did anything wrong, so why are we being punished like this?

Kaouru-san kept hugging me for the next few minutes, then led me to the couch, "Just stay here for a while, okay? I'm going to talk with Takeshi-san for a while."

She stroked my head, and I nodded in defeat. All my energy was drained from crying, and I don't know what I should do anymore. I don't know why I should live if my parents aren't going to be with me anymore.

Takeshi-san went inside another room, followed by Kaoru-san who looked devastated. She was my mom's best friend. Her family lives down the road, and they liked to visit us sometimes. I wonder, would they still visit me now that I'm all alone?

I curled myself into a ball and started crying again. When I opened my eyes, I saw a shadow slowly moved from the porch, and a silhouette appeared from behind the window frames.

A familiar face was staring at me with a perplexed look, his raven hair dripping wet from the rain.

I couldn't remember if I stood up from the couch, or if I ran towards him. The next thing I knew, I was already in his embrace and found myself crying out loud.

"Shh, just let it out, Mikan. Let it out," he gently stroked my head as I started trembling.

 _He knew._

He hugged me tighter, then whispered a few calming words in my ears, as I sobbed louder with every calming word he uttered.

 _He knew I needed him._

.

.

.

That was the year my life changed it's course. The year I lost my parents, and I lost him, my best friend.

 _I never saw them again._

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

Updated: 2/9/19

I'd like to give everyone a heads up that I'm constantly rewriting/editing/fixing any typos on the chapters throughout.

Some parts of the chapters might have been altered as well, but I promise it wouldn't change the flow of the story overall.

Hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

If anything, I was never a social butterfly.

I looked around the fancy hotel ballroom where a lot of Elite kids from mid-upper class have gathered, and felt like I don't belong. I never did.

"Excuse me, Miss. Care for some _petit fours_?" A waiter handed me a tray full of little cakes and savory pastries. I smiled for the first time this evening. This is what I came for, to be honest.

"Yes please," I took at least six pieces of the delicacies, and placed them in a little silver plate. He gave me a polite nod, then proceeded towards other guests inside the ballroom.

I briefly said hello to a few people who made eye contact with me, and smiled out of courtesy. They would smile back at me, before continuing their lively conversations about last month's fashion week in Milan that they attended as VIP guests, or their upcoming summer trips to old castles in Eastern Europe.

My phone vibrated from an incoming call, and I unconsciously sighed in relief upon seeing the caller's ID.

"Mikan, where are you? Geez, it's so hard to move around when I'm dressed up like this."

 _Dressed up?_

I stared down at my navy A-line dress decorated with pale ivory embroidery, which I bought on sale might I add. Pretty sure it's good enough to fit in the crowd, "I'm near the restroom, it's -"

"Oh, I see you!"

A young woman with curly green hair was walking towards me, and I smiled. Her hair bounced as she moved, and she was wearing a black strappy bodycon dress that reached slightly above her knee.

I gave her a long hug, grateful that she agreed to become my plus one _again._ "Thanks for coming, Permy. Where were you earlier?"

"Just taking care of stuff, sorry I was late!" She grinned nervously as if she was hiding something, but I decided to ignore it. "You look amazing as always!"

"I know," Permy winked then flipped her hair, "Now let's get some food. I'm starving."

.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present Miss Luna Koizumi as the hostess of tonight's _Social de Fortuné_!" The emcee handed a microphone to a tall girl in long wine dress and black stilettos. Her long strawberry blonde hair was in a stylish updo, and she looked really classy with a big diamond necklace on her neck. She is currently the president of this elite social circle.

Permy rolled her eyes as she took a handful of chocolate-dipped strawberries from a nearby table, "She always brags that she was born in France, but she can _barely_ speak any French."

Somehow Permy doesn't really like Luna from the start. She usually has good judgement and won't dislike people for no reason. However, I never really talked to Luna in length so I don't have anything against her. At least for now.

"All of the events she held previously were always French-inspired too."

Luna started her speech on how _enchanteé_ she was, and my mind couldn't help to wander elsewhere.

This Elite gathering started many many years ago, when a group of young and wealthy individuals in Tokyo decided to form a clique and call themselves the _Elites_. Literally, they were the real elites in Tokyo. Business tycoons, politicians, actors, models - you name it. They were the people who shaped the country's economy and enjoyed creating numerous networking events from charity fundraising, to social gatherings like today.

Even though I hate to admit it, I am part of the Elites simply because I have the Yukihira blood. My great-great grandparents founded Yukihira Corp., the once largest multi-national company that owned real estate properties and skyscrapers across Japan. They were very successful in their business, and passed the company to many generations after them.

My dad eventually became the CEO of this big business, until he passed away twelve years ago. Somehow, the government ended up taking all of our assets, leaving me with just enough money to pay for tuition until I finish higher education.

Luckily, my mom's old relative decided to take me in, and I stayed with him until I graduated High School. I call him Grandpa and consider him my real grandfather, because my biological grandparents passed away long before I was born.

Nevertheless, people see me as the girl with 'old money', the descendant of a wealthy family line who was rumored to have royal blood. So yes, I'm still included in their little group because of this specific and somewhat petty reason.

"Why do you have to come here again?" Permy asked as we sat on the empty sofas.

"Takeshi-san threatened me to go to these events, or else I won't get my allowance," I grunted as I remember the tantrum I threw to my lawyer when I was younger. He emphasized how important it was to expand my network from an early age, and thus going to socials was a baby step. If only working part-time was enough to pay for rent and daily expenses, I wouldn't be bothered coming to this event at all.

"He can do that? So not fair!"

"Sadly. Thanks for being my plus one, Permy. I really mean it."

"Well, if that means I get to eat free food and feel somewhat rich on a Friday night, then count me in, girl!" She winked then continued looking around the room, "I wonder if _every_ Elite kids actually go to these events."

I took a glance at the semi-crowded ballroom and raised my shoulder, "I don't think so. I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, really."

"Now you should socialize more, Mikan- _sama,_ make more acquaintances if you must." Permy smirked and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"These kids ignored me when they found out that I'm not rich anymore," I shook my head as I remembered my first gathering. In less than an hour, most of the people decided to avoid me like I carry bad luck.

It was mutual, I guess, because I am simply a normal third-year student in Tokyo University who take no interest in such luxurious lifestyle.

Me and Permy met during orientation in freshman year, and were never apart since. We even live in the same apartment. Permy is studying Politics & Law -a very competitive major I might add- while I'm in the Business school. Yup, it had always been a pressure as the _heiress_ of a bankrupt corporate, to one day return it's former glory.

* * *

"This taxi is taking forever, really," Permy grunted as she looked at her phone, "It's almost midnight too. I should've drove today."

I smiled as Permy started complaining about public transportation like always. She hates waiting, and usually chose to drive her silver Prius instead. I tried calling the taxi's number, but the driver didn't pick up, "Do you think he bailed on us?"

"He better not. I am _not_ taking the bus in this dress."

I never really liked the idea of taking the bus from downtown Tokyo after midnight. I heard enough crime analytics from Permy to know that it could be dangerous especially for young girls like us.

"Let's wait for five more minutes. If he doesn't pick up the phone, we can try calling another taxi."

Permy nodded and sat on the bench while looking at the _Gran du Hotel_ across the street where we were just inside. I was sure one of the Elite kids' family owned the place. Usually they would book a couple rooms for the night for an after party, but I never bothered to join. They're not the right crowd for me, besides, I just wanted to spend the rest of the night in my own cozy studio room.

Out of nowhere, Permy quickly stood up, stared at the hotel entrance, then looked at me in the eyes, "Curse it."

I tilted my head in confusion, "Curse what?"

She muttered a few more curses before typing furiously on her phone. I walked towards her then looked at the hotel lobby. Did she see something? Someone? Maybe her ex?

"Mikan, I know this sounds weird, but please trust me okay." Permy sighed exasperatedly. "Apparently there are a couple of bad people who had been following me, and they are inside the hotel now. Can we please leave _now_? Let's run somewhere before they find me."

I squinted my eyes at her, then at the empty entrance doors to the lobby. I don't see anyone, really. Something's not right. "Bad people? Permy, are you sure? Because I don't—Wait, hey!"

She dragged me before I finished my words and led me to the pedestrian crossing quickly.

"We're going to miss that taxi! Hey, Permy!"

Instead of stopping, she walked faster, and I had no choice but to follow her, "Really, Permy? Ugh, say something at least."

I tried to convince her, but she looked really pale. Now I'm very worried. She didn't touch any of the alcohol drinks earlier, so she should be perfectly sober. I decided to just shut up and comply to whatever she's up to.

We took a turn into a small alley, where a few garbage containers were placed at the back door of nearby bars or restaurants. I cringed at the smell, and looked at my best friend in disbelief. There is no way _Permy_ is going to make us hide here of all places. She's a major clean freak, and I felt even more anxious. Something is definitely not right.

She shoved me behind one of the garbage containers, and squatted down with me.

"Be quiet. They can hear us." Permy still looked pale, and I sighed, "You better have a good explanation for this."

A few minutes passed, and I was about to tell her that she's overreacting before I heard a few footsteps approaching. I glanced at Permy, whose eyes seemed to look darker, and I gulped nervously. What's going on here?

Unexpectedly a loud ringtone echoed through the whole alley, and I scrambled to shut my phone off. I swear Permy looked like she's going to kill me as I mouthed nervously to her, ' _Taxi driver_.'

"Come out now, kitty cat," a rough male's voice called with a very impatient tone. "We know you're here."

Another man spitted on the ground, and the next thing I heard was a gunshot.

.

My eyes shot open as terror went up my spine. Is this really happening? Is that a real gun?

Sweat started to form on my forehead. I couldn't believe Permy was involved with these kind of people. Are they drug dealers? Or even worse, Yakuza or some sort?

Permy whispered to me to stay still, as she slowly crouched with both of her arms on the ground. In the next few seconds, she looked up and I almost yelped. On her head was a pair of cat ears, and her nose transformed into a dog snout with whiskers on each of her cheek. Her wrists were covered in short fur, while her hands and feet looked like paws. Her stilettos were nowhere to be seen.

I looked at her in disbelief, but what surprised me more was when she gracefully did a backflip, landed on top of a pile of sturdy boxes, and charged the men with full force. I raised my body from behind the garbage containers so I could watch her closely.

At that moment, I knew I would never forget what happened that night.

There were three armed men in dark jackets, and Permy attacked them like an _animal_. She punched one of them until he fell, and in less than a second, she was already kicking the other guy's stomach and leaped towards the third man. I can't believe my eyes. My own best friend is a kick ass and she managed to hide this from me all these years!

It suddenly hit me in realization that I should ask for help. I was dialing 911 before my phone was abruptly gone from my hands, and a cold metal was positioned at the side of my head. I froze and glanced to my right, where a guy with military buzz cut menacingly stared at my face.

I tensed and slowly squeaked, "What do you want?"

He ushered me towards the fight, and the fear slowly started to hit me.

I'm going to die.

He literally has my life within his fingertips, and there's nothing I can do about it. I've never felt so weak and helpless.

Permy looked at me with shock as she stopped kicking the second guy, giving him a chance to hit her from behind and tied her wrists behind her back. I saw blood running down her temple, and I can feel my head spinning, "Permy, I….I'm sorry."

The man next to me laughed, and pressed the gun on my head as he stared at Permy, "Now, _Catwoman_ , where did you hide the files? Tell us or your friend's dead."

Permy stared at me helplessly. She is now kneeling on the ground, with her hands tied behind her back, and biting back a snarl, "I don't have it."

The second guy kicked her back, and I gritted my teeth. I want to run there and make sure she's okay, but I can feel the gun next to my head, and decided to not do anything stupid.

"Bring it to me then. You took what's ours, and it's only fair that you give it back."

The gun that was pressed next to my head became colder and longer, until I finally realized that it transformed into a thin sword; a Katana none the less. "You may have heard of me. My name is Senshi, and I have the Weapon Alice."

Permy snarled as Senshi pressed the blade on my neck, "Leave her alone. She's a N/A."

I was about to sigh in relief when he pulled his sword away, until I felt a sharp pain on my right abdomen. My body went limp and fell to the ground, holding the wound as my hands were covered in red.

I looked up and saw Permy broke free from the ropes, and charged Senshi in amazing speed. Everything happened in slow motion, and I felt my head became heavier by every second. I tried my best to focus on Permy. She avoided all the attacks that Senshi delivered, what a relief.

Suddenly I heard screams coming from the other two guys. I looked back and saw a blur of fire on their backs, where a new figure was now facing them. The men ran away, desperately trying to put out the fire, and the shadow turned around.

I blinked as I saw a familiar face; tousled hair and intense eyes. I know I've seen him somewhere, but I can't remember where.

He looked at me with surprise, then briskly helped me to stand up, "Are you alright?"

I grimaced as I showed him my wound, and his eyes widen. He took out his necklace and put it over my head. It's a small round clear quartz stone with silver chain, and it gleamed when I touched it. I gasped as I felt a tingling sensation on my wounded stomach, and he looked at me in the eyes, "Stay here."

With that, he walked towards Senshi and Permy, flames on each of his hand. Within seconds, Senshi yelped as his wrist caught fire, and his Katana disappeared. Permy looked at the fire caster in relief, and she gave me a weak smile.

They both fought side by side for a good 2 minutes, but Senshi had numerous weapons up his sleeves. Permy's sneak attack was countered by automatic guns, while our new ally had to stop casting fire as Senshi showered him with gun powders.

At one point, Permy yelped in pain and was thrown a few feet away when dodging the bullets. Senshi raised his gun towards her, and my eyes widen in terror.

Without thinking twice, I jumped forward to protect my best friend, and my chest throbbed with a tingling sensation.

I heard the gunshots, followed by Permy screaming my name.

A glimpse of blue light came into my view, before everything went black.

.

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	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

It was the best summer of my life.

I smiled widely as I reached the oak tree on top of the hill. The air smelled like freshly cut grass mixed with the scent of wild flowers.

Looking back, I saw both of my parents holding hands; laughing while they tried to catch up with me. My dad was holding a picnic basket, while my mom hugged a checkered blanket.

If anyone were to see us, they would describe us as the perfect happy family.

My yellow sundress fluttered when I walked towards them. We set our picnic underneath the tree, and started munching on the sandwiches that me and mom prepared beforehand.

"You sure love this place a lot, Mikan," my dad, Izumi Yukihira, pulled out another sandwich from the basket and grinned as he got his favorite peanut butter and jelly, "You always nag us to go here during weekends. Why is that?"

I smiled at him and point at the oak tree, "I just love sitting under the shade of this tree, especially when the wind blows and the leaves started to fall."

As if on cue, the warm summer breeze swept the field, and I saw leaves falling like snowflakes in the middle of July.

Yuka Azumi giggled as she stroked my head, "Funny thing, Mikan, I said the same thing when I was your age. Your grandparents usually found me sleeping under the Sakura tree in our backyard."

My eyes widen at the mention of Sakura tree, I've always wanted to see one myself. "I'm so sad I've never seen one before. Can we _please_ go for a Hanami picnic next time?"

"Of course, honey. Just wait until next year's cherry blossom season, you're going to love it!" My mom sounded excited, and I remember being all giddy for the next spring to come.

Dad smiled as he inched closer towards me. He hugged me briefly, then put his hand out on mom's shoulder, as I snuggled in the middle.

I leaned backwards, knowing that my parents would support my weight, and felt so safe in between.

If only time could stop, I wished that moment could last forever.

* * *

The sound of whirring machine welcomed me as I opened my eyes.

I felt tears were falling slowly from both of my eyes, as I struggled to blink and focus on the ceiling. It had been a while since I dreamed about my parents. I raised my right hand to wipe the tears, but felt a sharp pain from my lower abdomen instead.

What happened?

Looking around the room, it seemed like I was in a hospital or some sort. The bed where I laid was slightly hard, and I was wearing a hospital gown. My left wrist was hooked to an IV, and I felt weak.

I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and remembered being with Permy at the Elite's social event. A few awful men were chasing us, and a bunch of weird things happened; weapons, cat, fire–

"Mikan, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes slowly, and saw Permy entering the room. She stood next to the bed, looking really worried. Her head was bandaged, and so were her arm and knees.

Does this mean all of those things actually happened?

"I'm—I'm fine." I squeaked, and gave her a look, "What happened?"

Permy's eyes were red, and I assumed she had been crying. "You protected me, Mikan. I thought – I really thought you were going to die when you took that hit. But you actually used your Alice to save us both, oh God, you have no idea –"

"Wait, hold up," I squinted my eyes and suddenly came into a realization that I have so many unanswered questions, "I protected you using- What do you mean _Alice_? And did you actually turn into a _cat_? Those guys were evil? What the heck is happening here, Permy, am I going crazy?"

I took a deep breath, realizing that I can't really deal with too much stuff right now.

Permy gave me a knowing smile, and touched my hand gently, "Take a deep breath, Mikan. Deep breaths. There's a lot to take in."

I did what she said and took more deep breaths. I need to calm down.

There was a knock on the door, and a tall figure with blonde hair stepped in. He gave Permy a nod, before looking at me with slight surprise. His dark green eyes widen, and I unconsciously gulped.

Did I look that weird?

After a few good seconds, he regained his composure and smiled, "Hello there. My name is Narumi Anju, and I'm Sumire's supervisor here. I know you must be really confused now, but I will explain everything to you in a few minutes. You can call me Narumi-sensei."

I nodded and gave him a small smile. He looked like a nice person, "Hi, my name is Mikan. Nice to meet you."

Not long after, Permy left the room, saying that it's easier if I have one-on-one conversation with Narumi. He took a seat next to my bed, and pulled out a folder with a gold star and bold red capital-letter A emblemed in the middle.

"So, Mikan, have you heard of Alice before?"

I shook my head, as he opened the folder and picked a few pictures, like he had done it million times before.

"As you had witnessed earlier, there are people with…super-abilities in this world. And we call these abilities or the people who possess them as an 'Alice'. For example, your friend Sumire is an Alice, and she has the Shape-shifting Alice, in particular the cat/dog form."

I blinked a few times, trying to process everything in my head and ask the same questions again. Were all of those powers real? Are they magic? Or trickery?

"No, they're not just cheap tricks. They were real," Narumi said as if he could read my mind, and I immediately gasped, "Please don't tell me you can read my mind."

He laughed and pat his knee, "Goodness, no. But there is someone here who have that Alice."

I cringed at the thought, and _prayed_ I will never encounter that person.

"Right now, we're at a place called Alice Academy; an institute where we train Alices to use their abilities to the maximum potential, as well as a safe place for those with more…complicated powers."

I nodded again, as Narumi-sensei continued, "Nonetheless, it is a secret organization funded by Japanese government, as these Alices are considered assets to the country, that could help a lot of research technologies, medical improvements, and even military."

I don't like the sound of military involved, as it reminded me of the guy with weapons earlier.

"Therefore, we will ask you to not tell any single soul out there about what I just told you; it's a secret." Narumi-sensei winked, and I gave him a polite smile. He really looked like a metrosexual guy that you can find hanging out in a fancy bar downtown.

He showed me a few pictures of buildings within Alice Academy, including its' facilities throughout the nation. I was honestly in awe, it was as if I just stepped into this action movie with a bunch of secret agencies and cool machinery.

"Well, that's all I have for you at the moment. Do you have any questions for me?" Narumi-sensei leaned on his chair, as I tried to think of a few questions.

"Are we at the hospital now?"

"Technically yes, but not just any regular hospital. We're at the Alice Hospital, within Alice Academy grounds."

I looked around the room, and really couldn't find any odd object that screams 'Welcome to a Super-Secret Hospital!', which is a good sign.

"Oh, what is your Alice, Narumi-sensei?" I asked slowly, and unexpectedly, he grinned, "I have the Pheromone-Alice. I can control people's emotions, sometimes their mind too."

I unconsciously scooted back in my bed, and gulped. Has he been controlling…me?

"Your turn, Mikan. Can you tell me what your Alice is?"

I can see his eyes became lighter, like an emerald jade color, and I didn't know what to say. I don't have superpowers whatsoever the last time I checked.

"Honestly, I don't even know if I'm an Alice," I sounded bitter. It felt like I can almost touch the answer with my fingertips, but my brain decided to tell me otherwise.

Narumi-sensei raised his eyebrow, and grinned even wider, "I have a feeling you are."

I raised my head in confusion, "Really?"

"First, we wouldn't share that kind of top-secret information with just anyone, especially Non-Alices or N/A," he cleared his throat, as if embarrassed, and continued, "Second, I just used my Alice on you, and you didn't flinch at all. Not even a blush."

Right there and then, I knew I started blushing madly and stammered, "B-blush? What do you mean?"

He chuckled a bit nervously and gathered the pictures back into the folder, "Well, usually other people would feel a tingle in their hormones that…ehm, would make them behave differently for a while."

My cheeks felt warm, and I made a mental note to be more cautious of this guy.

"Seeing that you're not affected by me, shows that you might have a rare Alice, Mikan."

Narumi-sensei took a glance at his watch, and said "I hope you can rest soon. It was smart of Natsume to give you that Healing Stone. How are you feeling?"

So that's his name, Natsume. Why is it so familiar?

I felt my eyelids were getting heavier, and felt just a slight pain in my stomach when I moved, "I think I'm getting better."

He smiled and added before he left, "Good to hear that. Just spend the night here and have a good rest. I'll send someone to check on you tomorrow."

I nodded and put my head back on the pillow, "Thanks, Narumi-sensei."

Before long, I was back in a deep slumber.

* * *

"Are you sure that she is an Alice?"

Narumi gave him a somber smile and said, "Positive. I have tried using my power against her, and it didn't work."

Jinno squinted his eyes as he wasn't convinced. It's not everyday you randomly found an Alice wandering down the roads. The Academy had kept track a list of potential Alices and even 'underground' Alices under their radar, and this girl has never showed up in their database.

Narumi's eyes glinted when he realized Jinno didn't believe him.

"You know, fun fact, she looked exactly like Yuka when she was young."

Upon hearing that, Jinno immediately stared at him in disbelief, "Are you saying that she-"

"I haven't confirmed with Sumire yet if she carries the Yukihira name," Narumi sighed as his eyes wandered to his past, "But I have a strong feeling that she does. Our little tangerine has grown up."

Jinno realized this news will stir a few things up in the Academy; heck not just the Academy, but most likely the politics and communities around Alices around the nation as well. This could be really troublesome, especially a few Z members had seen what the girl can do.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

Narumi looked at him and nodded slowly, "We should be ready, and prepare her at all cost."

* * *

Mikan looked at her reflection on the mirror and shook her head for the millionth time.

Her eyes were puffy, and her long hair stuck out in a few different directions. The clothes that Permy brought earlier for her was spot on; she had a white t-shirt on, gray sweatpants, and a pair of sneakers.

A few knocks were heard on the door when she put her hair up in a ponytail. "Come in."

Permy opened the door and smiled, "There, you look way better without the hospital gown. How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Mikan smiled back and realized that she's still wearing the clear necklace around her neck. She held it with her fingers, and felt a peaceful sensation running through her veins.

She wondered if she gets to see him again and properly thank him for lending her the necklace.

"That's an Alice Stone. A Healing Stone to be exact, that can heal your wounds if you hold it," Permy explained as she gestured Mikan to follow her, "I was told to give you a tour around the Alice Academy grounds. What have you heard from Naru-sensei so far?"

"Basic info, I think. He gave me a brief explanation of what Alices are."

Permy grinned as she gave her a side hug, "I can't believe _you_ are an Alice! All these years and I never noticed! This is…unbelievable."

Mikan gave her a weak smile. She couldn't believe she turned out to have a... _superpower_ either. "Yeah it is, I don't even know what my Alice is— wait, _you_ never told me that you're an Alice yourself! What did you take our friendship for?"

"It's a really top secret, you know. Some people even hide it from their family members, so they won't be treated differently." They walked past a couple of doctors and nurses, and continued to walk towards the exit, "Also, not everyone working in this Hospital is an Alice. We call them N/A or 'Non-Alice', and they signed an agreement to never spoke a word about Alices."

Permy opened the exit door, and Mikan squinted upon seeing the sunlight. It was warm and she felt more energized the moment they stepped out of the hospital doors.

"How big is Alice Academy, really?" Mikan asked in wonder, as she saw a couple of clean pathways with lamp posts and benches that lead to different buildings in her view.

Permy chuckled at the question, as she asked the same thing when she was brought into the Academy's grounds at the age of 13, "It's huge. You can compare it to a private University that has it's own hospital, administrative buildings, different training divisions, and even our own Mission Bunker."

Mikan's eyes twinkled as her inner explorer was trying to come out, "So, where should we start?"

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	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Permy shook her head in amusement as she watched her friend acted like a tourist for the day.

They had been walking around Alice Academy for a couple of hours, and visited most of the important places that she could think of. Obviously Mikan was so curious to explore everything at once, but she assured her that she'll get to explore more with time, especially if she decided to join the Academy and had to start her training.

Permy wasn't sure if her friend knew how much commitment and sacrifice she has to make onward if she was to be part of the Academy. It is _not_ an easy place to be after all.

"Oh wow, this area is so pretty," the brunette looked at the little shops around the alley in awe, "Are we in Central Town?"

The buildings around them were made of red bricks, and decorated with ebony-colored window frames. Most of them were two to three stories high, with mini balconies decorated with flower pots, and dark green pointy rooftops. The lamp posts in between each store were decorated with flowers and string lights that illuminate at night.

"Yes, we are. This place always reminded me of a little Christmas village, especially during winter," Permy let out a small smile, as she remembered a bittersweet memory of hers a few years back. It was on a cold December night when a boy tried to steal her first kiss under the mistletoe.

"Do you want to go to that cute Cafe over there? They sell cakes!" Mikan's eyes gleamed at the thought of sweets, "We can get coffee or something to drink too."

Permy nodded in agreement, as she was feeling a little tired from being Mikan's personal tour guide. She had been working as the Academy's tour guide for as long as she could remember, which was exactly why Naru-sensei asked her to show Mikan around the Academy grounds. "That little shop with maroon door and rose ornaments is Morukawa Cafe, I go there all the time. Maybe I can introduce you to my friend if she's working today."

They walked into the European-styled Cafe when a slow jazzy song was playing, and Mikan knew she would go here again. The interior was decorated with warm brown bricks, a fireplace, and dark green metal vines seeping around the corners of the wall. She made her way to the counter, and started eyeing the different variety of tall layered cakes and glossy fruit tarts on display. Each of the little delicacies were wrapped in clear plastic films and laced paper doilies with transparent "MC" emblem on one side.

"Hi there, how can I help you?" a petite girl with light pink hair in a messy bun and a professional white waist apron smiled at her. She waved at Permy, "Oh hey, Permy."

"Glad to see you here, Anna," Permy smiled then pointed at Mikan, "Mikan, meet my friend, Anna, she's the main pastry chef here."

Mikan looked up from the glass case and shook the pinkette's hand, "Nice to meet you, Anna. Your cakes look amazing!"

Anna let out a small chuckle, pleased to hear the compliment, "Thank you, and nice meeting you too, Mikan. Please help yourself! I'd recommend trying the _Mille-feuille_ cake, I just finished chilling them earlier right before you both came in."

She pointed at the layered puff pastry and chantilly cream with crushed hazelnut in between the layers. The pastries were each in perfect rectangular shapes and stacked to a couple inches tall. A light dusting of confectioners sugar decorated the top layer, along with vanilla icing and light chocolate drizzle.

"We'll take 2 please," said Mikan as her eyes looked at the dessert in awe. "You must be so talented, this is one of the best Napoleon I've ever seen in my life!"

"Anna is one of the best chefs in the whole nation, she had won so many baking competitions since she was small," Permy explained as she looked at the coffee selection on the blackboard behind the counter. She needed her coffee, and pointed to Anna that she'll have an iced Caramel Soy Latte that evening, "After all, she is one of Alice Academy's best Cooking Alice."

Mikan looked at Anna as she plated the cakes, and felt her eyes twinkled, " _Cooking_ _Alice_? Oh wow, that is so cool."

Anna placed two plates with their orders on the counter, and proceeded to brew fresh espresso for Permy, "I'm guessing you're a Tourist, Mikan? How did you hear about the Academy?"

Mikan tilted her head as she was surprised tourists were welcomed. She never even heard of Alice Academy while she had spent most of her life in Tokyo. How did tourists manage to find this place?

" _Tourist_ is a nickname for influential people who are not Alices, however have enough authority to know that Alices do exist and are under the protection and supervision of Alice Academy, which is actually a very classified information might I add," Permy patiently explained as she leaned against the counter top, "I sometimes work as a tour guide for the Academy, and would show these Tourists around the campus; which is why Anna thought you were one."

Mikan's mouth turned to an 'O' while processing the new information. She really needed to catch up on a lot of these information if she were to spend more time here.

On the other hand, Anna raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Are you saying that Mikan _is_ an Alice?" She took another glance at Mikan and knit her eyebrows together, "I don't think I've seen you before, have I? What a rare sight! We don't usually have a newcomer at our age."

Permy gave Anna a nervous smile, as she could understand her curiosity. However, she didn't want to make Mikan feel so overwhelmed on her second day being inside the Alice Academy's ground. She grabbed her coffee with one hand and her plate with another, "I'll make sure to show her the ropes, she will catch up in no time! Come on, Mikan, let's sit by the window there."

Taking her plate, Mikan just nodded and followed Permy to the high table with a view of the streets. They started digging into their dessert, and Mikan's lips were pursed up in satisfaction, "This is _really_ good. I'm so impressed with Anna!"

Permy swept her shoulder length olive-green hair to one side, and sipped her latte gracefully, "That's Anna for you, she never failed to be the star when it comes to baking and bringing food for potlucks. Her Alice enabled her to create so many innovations and breakthroughs in the culinary world."

Mikan continued devouring her cake before deciding to pause midways, "Hey Permy, what exactly did Anna mean back there? She said we don't usually have newcomers at our age. Does it mean that Alices generally find out about their powers when they're younger?"

Looking at her friend, Permy knew she had to tell Mikan the answer sooner or later. This is one of the conversations that she dreaded to have with her.

"Typically we discover our powers since we were very small, I discovered mine when I was only 5 years old. In most cases, our parents or family members are Alices as well, as these genes are hereditary to your children. On some rare occasions, children of N/A can develop Alices as they grow older, but before hitting puberty - 16 to 17 years of age at most. This is why you're one of the even rarer cases, as we discovered your power in your early 20s. _However_ , we do understand that this is a special situation, since your power can only impact Alices on the first place, you would have to encounter other Alices to be discovered." Permy looked at Mikan and waited for her reaction. It was a lot of information to take, and she wanted to make sure Mikan didn't freak out.

Mikan nodded silently, so Permy continued on, "Sometimes, there are Alices who want to stay hidden and remove any association with Alice Academy, and we respect that. They are however still monitored under our radar, as they are valuable assets to us after all. We can also predict whether someone's an Alice when they are showing signs of having an Alice, even if they don't realize it themselves. In this case, we will list them in our database and check them on a monthly basis, however would avoid any direct contact to avoid any conflict."

The brunette looked surprised, and she couldn't believe the Academy is operating like an American CIA, "So, you're spying on them constantly?"

"More like checking on them. We observe, monitor, and protect. That's our motto," Permy grinned as if she had repeated this statement many times before.

Mikan rolled her eyes but couldn't help but let out a sarcastic remark, "Very convincing. Of course you'd say that, Permy."

Permy gave her friend a small reassuring smile, but couldn't help hiding an uneasy feeling that she had inside. She couldn't possibly tell Mikan that the chances of finding someone like her, who out of the blue turns out to be an Alice, are almost _never_. There's an Alice within the Academy who can detect other Alices based on their pictures, which is the reason how they managed to have a large database of Alices residing in the country. The fact that a case like Mikan's never happened during her whole career within the Academy, and the topic was considered taboo whenever someone brought it up, made Permy really worried of what the Academy might do next.

Even though they talked about serious and confidential topics that could stir up the whole nation's politics, the duo were merely college students who bear more responsibilities on their shoulders than they should have. They both continued chatting for the next couple of hours, while enjoying the relaxing atmosphere that Morukawa Cafe provides.

With mainly Permy sharing more information about Alices to Mikan, she listened carefully at every word and asked anything that popped up on her mind. If she were to step into this new Alice world, she'd better know what she was signing up for.

* * *

Narumi was pacing back and forth in his office with a worried look on his face.

The sun was about to set soon, which will be Sumire's cue to bring Mikan back to the Headquarters. He would need to convince her to join the Academy, even if deep down he would rather leave Mikan out of the whole Alice business if he could.

"I know what you're thinking," Misaki stepped into his office after knocking at the slightly opened door, and swiftly closed it shut. "I'm going to make sure you'll do what's right. For her own sake too."

Narumi stared at the black-haired biologist, who was not only his co-worker, but also his partner in crime. "Do you think I'm making the right decision? There is no turning back once she finally decided to join the Academy."

He tried to look assured in front of Jinno earlier, however now couldn't help but show how he actually felt in front of his friend.

Misaki sighed, knowing that the ever-confident Narumi Anju would start second guessing his own judgement when it comes to a certain family. "She's in danger, Naru. Those people from Zero had seen not only her face, but also her Alice. We all know that there is no better way to protect her than train her to be one of us."

The blond man in his late 30s looked out his window with a long face. His office was located on one of the higher floors, and a beautiful view of the Northern Forest from above greeted him as the sky slowly turned orange, "I wish she could live a normal life like a Non-Alice, just like how her parents wanted her to. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happens to her."

Instead of reprimanding him for being too dramatic, Misaki simply put his hand on Narumi's shoulder and said, "Remember that Alice will always be a part of her, Naru. She's a strong young woman, just like her mother. I'm sure she'll be fine."

As if on cue, a few female's chattering were heard from the hallway, and Narumi turned around, "Thanks, Misaki. You should stay, and I'll introduce you to her."

Before Misaki had the chance to answer, a couple knocks were heard, and Narumi opened the door to reveal the expected faces, "Come in, ladies. How was the mini informative tour?"

Permy walked in first as she had entered her sensei's office countless of times before, "It was good! Mikan was really excited to try out Howalon the next time she comes here."

Mikan sheepishly followed her as she promised herself earlier to try the infamous melt-in-your-mouth cotton candy on her upcoming visit to Central Town. "Permy was amazing! She really knows the Academy inside and out."

"I'm very glad to hear that. Sumire is one of our best Guides after all," said Narumi proudly, "On that note, please meet Misaki-sensei. He is a biologist and teacher here in the Academy, who is also my very dear friend."

Mikan gave him a smile and reached out her hand, "Nice to meet you, Misaki-sensei. I'm Mikan."

For a brief second, Misaki was taken aback at the uncanny resemblance that Mikan had with her mother when she was her age. He then understood why Narumi had such a hard time maintaining his composure at first, as the young woman before him reminded them so much of their beloved senpai.

"The pleasure's mine, Mikan. I hope you'll like it here." Misaki shook her hand and gave her a warm smile, "I'll leave it to Naru over here to have a conversation with you on what options you have moving forward."

Permy took a deep breath when Misaki-sensei looked at her and tilted his chin towards the door. "Me and Misaki-sensei will wait outside. Just come find me after you two finished talking."

Mikan simply waved at them as they exited the door, clearly not aware of the weight of discussion ahead that will completely change the course of her life. She took a seat in front of Narumi-sensei, and was handed a couple of paper documents that resembled contracts and confidentiality agreements.

"So, Mikan-chan, after learning more about Alices and finding out that you are an Alice yourself, how do you feel?" Narumi carefully asked as if he was a therapist who was handling a delicate patient.

"Honestly, I'm still in awe and most of all surprised. I mean, these _Alices_ that I've been hearing about seem so impossible and unreal. They only happen in movies and books, you know. I never imagined they could actually exist, or heck, actually being one myself," Mikan didn't realize how easy it was for her to open up to this stranger, which wasn't a common thing for her to do. She had always been slightly guarded when it comes to sharing her feelings with others.

Something about this man resembled a protective uncle in her eyes, and she couldn't help but telling him how she really felt, "It was scary, seeing my own best friend fought those men like she had done it million times before. I've never been so terrified in my life, until a gun was pointed at my head, and I really thought I would-" She slowly gulped, as realized that she hadn't been thinking much about what happened the night before.

In just a split second, all of her emotions and fear surfaced, and Mikan started tearing up as she remembered the details of how the night went. She had no idea that she had suppressed all her feelings, and now everything just sunk in her mind.

 _The fight, the blood, the gunshot._

"I'm so sorry you had to experience that, Mikan. I really am. No N/A should ever had gone through that," Narumi felt his heart broke as he saw how inexperienced and naive Mikan was in the midst of an Alice Combat. He shifted his seat, as he was beginning to believe that asking her to join them would rip the good heart that she possessed.

Mikan wiped her tears slowly, as she came into the realization that her very own best friend might had experienced the similar thing that she had. She was starting to feel nauseous, "Are you saying that last night was a _normal_ situation for Alices?"

Narumi's eyes casted to the floor, as he spoke the bitter truth, "Everyone within the Academy needs to undergo a complex training to control their Alices, as well as to learn basic self-defense skills. However, only a handful of Alices are specially trained for many years to face the situation like you did last night."

Mikan looked at the documents before her, realizing that there are still so many things that she didn't know about the Academy. The more she knew, the more she doubted if the Academy is as good as how it seemed from the outside.

"Compare those who have undergo the special training to people who enroll in the Military. They both help our nation in obtaining important intel and winning battles. The Alice Academy simply asks their members to learn how to defense themselves, just like how many schools train their students basic surviving skills. If you're not interested in joining the special training, you will not be forced to do so," Narumi explained more but with a lighter tone this time.

Upon hearing that, Mikan felt a little bit at ease, however still very uncertain of how she perceives the Academy as. "There really is a lot going on in Alice Academy, huh?"

Narumi chuckled as she was definitely not the first person to say that during his whole time working here. "So, what do you say, Mikan? Would you like to join Alice Academy and learn about your powers more?"

Mikan shifted uncomfortably, and asked the biggest question that she had, "Naru-sensei, what exactly is my power?"

.

"Do you have any idea of what it might be?"

The brunette paused for a few seconds, trying to sum up all of the possibilities inside her head, "I can make people unable to use their Alice against me."

Narumi smiled widely, as if Mikan just passed a test that he laid out for her, "Yes, that is correct. You have the Nullification Alice." Mikan felt a sense of familiarity upon hearing the name, even though she never said it herself.

Her power would enable her to _nullify_ Alices. To _disable_ Alices. To make Alices _not_ become Alices.

The thought shook her, as she felt the weight of the impact it could have towards an institution filled with people who refer themselves as _Alices_. How would they possibly react if someone like her casually went through their gates and claimed that she has the power to strip them off of their identity?

"What if I don't want to join the Academy?" she whispered quietly, and she could see Narumi's expression changed. This was not the reaction that he was hoping for.

Suddenly the office door slammed open, and a tall figure came in hastily, "Are you serious, Naru? Are you _really_ not letting me find those Z bastards?"

The young lad glared at Narumi, who was obviously not expecting his arrival. In the young lad's hand was a manila folder with a document of his rejected Mission request.

"Nice to see you too, Natsume. I believe you have met Mikan here. Come introduce yourself." Narumi gave him a warm smile but his eyes were stern as ice, as if threatening him to not say anything stupid.

Natsume turned to the female figure who was looking at him curiously, and realized that she was the girl that he encountered the night before. Without reaching out his hand, he said quickly, "My name's Natsume. Natsume Hyuuga."

Mikan gave him a nervous smile, as she remembered how easily this guy can create fire out of thin air, "Hello, I'm Mikan. Mikan Yukihira."

Upon hearing her family name, Natsume raised his eyebrows as he definitely heard it somewhere before. He took a glance at Narumi who looked paler than earlier, and had a feeling that this girl would somehow make a difference in their lives. The only problem was, he didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

"So, are you an Alice?" he asked casually. Seeing her in Narumi's office made him realize that she had somehow become an asset to the Academy. Usually, Non-Alices who accidentally witnessed an Alice's power would have their memories erased.

Mikan nodded unsurely, and looked at Naru-sensei as if asking a validation from him. Natsume squinted his eyes as he found her even more suspicious. How can someone not know their own Alice?

Narumi looked at the two carefully, and suddenly an idea clicked on his head. He took a deep breath as he came to a perfect solution to solve his problems, "Natsume, I'm asking you to become Mikan's partner starting from now."

"What?" the two simultaneously exclaimed as Narumi grinned even wider.

He knew that this would be a risky thing that he was doing, but it was a risk he was willing to take. Pairing the innocent Nullifier and the infamous Black Cat together, he really hoped he made the right choice not only for themselves, but also for the future of the Academy.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

Thank you for all the kind reviews, favs, and follows!

They kept me motivated to write more for this story.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Ruka rubbed his temple for the third time in the past 30 minutes. He felt like he was slowly becoming his best friend's baby sitter, and wasn't sure how much longer could he take this kind of brash attitude that Natsume gave to people around him.

"Did you say he just barged into Narumi-sensei's office?" Permy raised her voice as she stared at the blond young man who was dressed in casual dark gray shirt and cargo shorts. Obviously he was planning to enjoy his Saturday evening in a dog park somewhere and nowhere near Alice Academy grounds.

"Yes, yes he did. He was planning to chase after Senshi from Z after the incident last night," Ruka felt his head throbbed again as he really wanted to knock some senses to Natsume's mind. Their classes in Keito University are starting soon, and instead of preparing for their senior year of college, his buddy decided to play hero and beat the bad guys who attacked a civilian last night.

Permy shook her head in disbelief as she looked at the closed door in front of them. With an annoyed tone, she said, "My good friend Mikan who was with me last night, is inside that room, and Narumi-sensei is trying to convince her to join the Academy. If anything goes wrong, I will definitely put the blame on him."

Her words surprised Ruka as he looked at her with eyebrows raised, "Your friend is an _Alice_? How did - and they are having _the_ talk to join Alice Academy?"

Enrolling in Alice Academy was not like signing up to a high-end Rewards Club like people would imagine. Just because they are an Alice, doesn't mean they actually belong in the Academy. There was a deeper level of commitment, confidentiality agreements, and above all sacrifice that they had to agree on from the very beginning. Those who enrolled under the age of 13 would need their parents' or guardian's approval beforehand, and when they reach the age of 20, they need to sign a binding contract of non-disclosure agreements and training completion certificates. There were so many things that one need to carefully consider before blindly saying yes to the Academy's invite. In the past, many people ended up quitting midways because they couldn't handle the pressure and level of responsibility that they had to bear.

Permy sighed exasperatedly and prayed that Mikan would make the right choice in the end. Not going to lie, she really hoped Mikan would accept Narumi-sensei's offer because she was one of her best friends and it would be amazing if they could spend time in the Academy together. On the other hand, Permy wanted Mikan to be safe. Even though Misaki-sensei said that joining the Academy would give Mikan the training and protection that she needed, she wasn't sure if joining as a member of a secret organization for people with special powers would ever benefit Mikan in the long run, especially since she had lived her whole life as a normal citizen.

A couple minutes later, Narumi-sensei's office door opened to reveal two figures; one guy had an annoyed look on his face and one girl had confusion on hers.

"What happened?" both Permy and Ruka asked at the same time, while their friends silently glanced at each other.

"We became partners," Natsume gave the brunette next to him a weird look, and Mikan just nodded unsurely, "Yes we did, and what does that exactly mean?"

"You guys _what_?" This time Ruka raised his voice, which was very unusual of him. Everything that happened for the past 24 hours had built up to this moment, and Ruka couldn't help but express his frustration inside. From getting an Alice Alert in the middle of night that Permy was not only attacked, but also was with an N/A-now-turned-Alice who witnessed her power; to his best friend being the first to respond to the Alert as he was at a bar nearby; then hearing him submit a Mission request to go after the people from Zero -which was a foolish and hasty idea Ruka might add- ;and finally finding him assigned a partner for the first time after being in the Academy for almost his whole life.

Ruka's cerulean eyes were fixed towards the unfamiliar face of the young woman before him, and couldn't help but wonder who she could be. It was almost impossible to decipher why the Academy would let anyone become Natsume's partner. He was one of the best yet most dangerous person that the Academy had ever seen. Alices like him don't typically have partners; not only it would be a burden for them, but also for their partner in the future.

"Mikan, what did Narumi-sensei say? Did you accept his offer?" Permy held her friend's hands with a worried look on her face. She was getting even more worried, as things were taking too many unexpected turns and she knew something wasn't quite right.

"Narumi-sensei gave me one week to decide whether I want to join the Academy or not," the brunette tried to stay calm despite realizing the antsy behavior of these people around her. She waved a thick manila folder with a gold star emblem and red bold letter 'A' in the middle, "He told me to carefully read the contracts and documents inside this folder before finalizing my decision, which is pretty fair in my opinion."

Unconsciously, Permy let out a deep breath that she didn't realize she was holding, and gave Mikan's hands a gentle squeeze, "Let's talk about this when we get home."

Natsume was observing their conversation and couldn't help but ask, "You two live together?"

"Yeah, we live in the same apartment," Permy stated before realizing that she hadn't properly introduce Mikan to her peers. Looking at the group, she swiftly said in a light tone, "Guys, this is my good friend Mikan, we go to school together and are practically roommates. Mikan, these two are my friends, Natsume and Ruka. I've known them since we were small, and they are my friends here in the Academy."

Ruka came to his senses that the girl must be internally freaking out as she was never exposed to this Alice world before, and decided to give her a small reassuring smile, "Nice meeting you, Mikan. Please excuse my behavior earlier. I look forward to seeing you around here."

Mikan's face slowly lit up as she found his friendliness comforting in the midst of this chaos, "Nice meeting you too, Ruka. Hopefully I get to see you around as well."

Her hazel eyes unconsciously darted to a pair of crimsons who looked away and cleared his throat, "I was a little rude earlier in Naru's office, sorry."

Permy couldn't help but let out a small grin as the young men started to regain their composure and opened up to the newcomer. She saw Mikan let out a small smile as her gaze soften at the two lads. They didn't seem as bad as Mikan thought they were, "That's alright. We were all in a sticky situation after all."

After a couple of friendly exchanges, Permy decided that it was time for her and Mikan to go back to their apartment and have a well deserved rest for the night. As they bid their goodbyes, Ruka added in the end, "See you ladies tomorrow."

Mikan looked at her friend as they started walking to the parking lot, "Tomorrow?"

"The Academy hold weekly meetings every Sunday afternoon. It's like a mass gathering for members to get updates on what the latest news are," Permy simply explained and Mikan just nodded in silence.

The two continued walking as the night slowly fell upon them. Mikan was lost in her own thoughts, and Permy was trying to hide her worried expression.

Something was definitely stirring up within Alice Academy, and Permy couldn't help but wonder why.

* * *

The Nogi household was quiet that day, as the family's master and mistress were on a vacation to Santorini for short getaway before the cold weather hits their home in Tokyo. The backdoor behind the grand spiraling staircase opened slowly, revealing two young figures who stepped inside the dim-lighted mansion after parking their cars in the spacious garage.

"Feel free to stay over and take the guest room. You know the drill," the one and only Nogi heir casually said as he started walking towards the staircase.

Natsume followed suit as if he had lived there his whole life, "Thanks Ruka. That would be great."

Hearing his answer, Ruka smirked internally as he knew it meant something was bothering his friend, and Natsume wanted to talk to him about it.

They both reached the second floor, where there was a huge opening for the family's second and private living room. The ceiling was high, with several juliet windows facing the backyard. Three dark gray couches were circling the TV, a coffee-colored round table was in the middle, and a simple ash gray chandelier was dangling above them.

The two young men sat themselves on the couches, when an old woman in her 70s stepped in with a smile on her wrinkled face, "Welcome back, Ruka-san, Natsume-san. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please, Nana-san. If we can have those Oolong leaves that Okasan brought home a couple months ago, that'd be great," Ruka smiled towards the head housemaid who had been with the Nogi household before he was even born.

Nana-san nodded as she was familiar with how keen of tea the Nogi family has been. They would bring home boxes of tea leaves from their travel to other cities or countries. This particular Oolong tea was a special blend from Fujian province that the madame brought home from China a while ago. Ruka had been obsessed with them lately, and found them very soothing. The elderly maid smiled lightly before walking towards the small pantry on the other side of the staircase, "I will be back shortly with your tea, and perhaps my homemade fruit cake as well. I recalled they are Nastume-san's favorite."

Natsume grinned as the homemade fruit cake had been the only dessert that he'd eat whenever he went to Ruka's house.

"You're the best, Nana-san," the raven haired lad said as he stretched himself on the couch, "I should really ask for the recipe one day."

Ruka laughed as he reached for the remote and turned on the TV, "You might be a good cook, but you suck at baking."

Natsume squinted his eyes in disapproval, "I made a strawberry cheesecake for Aoi once."

"Exactly. Have you baked again ever since?" Ruka changed the channel to Tokyo's Today News and lowered the volume.

"Touché."

Ruka leaned back slowly as the TV screen showed an unfolding scandal of a famous politician in Kobe prefecture, "That aside, tell me what's been on your mind. I can tell you're currently thinking - _analyzing_ something."

Natsume shook his head in amusement, for he didn't expect Ruka to realize so fast that something was bothering him, "You're becoming more like Koko lately, y'know. No, even worse, like Imai."

Ruka immediately laughed, and his cerulean eyes twinkled at the name of the particular young lady, "Which means that my instinct is right. So, what is it?"

Letting out a big sigh, Natsume closed his eyes, "Don't you find it suspicious? When earlier Narumi declared the mysterious little girl to become my partner?"

Ruka titled his chin in slight confusion, "Little girl? Are you referring to Mikan?" He looked at his friend who grunted lightly, "She suddenly appeared out of nowhere, accidentally witnessed an Alice fight one day, and turned out to be an Alice next. What a funny coincidence. Do you think she's a spy from Zero?"

All of the things that Natsume mentioned made sense, and Ruka couldn't help but wonder if it was true, "I do find it strange that you were assigned a partner out of the blue, seeing your status within the Academy as well," Ruka paused as he tried to look at the issue from another perspective, "But above all, she is actually Permy's close friend. Heck, she even called her Permy and not Sumire. You know how that feisty woman wouldn't let just _anyone_ call her Permy unless they're really close to her."

Natsume nodded in agreement, but still couldn't shake the feeling that she seemed familiar, "I swear I've seen her before, but I don't know where."

 _It could be during one of his missions._

Natsume tried to brush of the nagging feeling that he had, but couldn't decipher what exactly was bothering him.

"Don't overthink it, Natsume. Maybe we've seen her with Permy before, who knows?" Ruka said lightly, even though deep inside he was worried that this would bother his best friend for a while. Natsume had enough burden on his shoulders, and creating suspicions for his new partner should be the last thing on his mind.

"And hey, we're going to see her again tomorrow. Maybe it's best if we just get to know her more in the meantime."

Natsume sighed as he knew Ruka was right. Perhaps he was looking too much into the whole incident for the past two days.

"She'd better be prepared if the teachers were to announce her during the Assembly. The crowd's gonna eat her alive."

Ruka grimaced at the thought, but he knew what Natsume said was true. He could only imagine how Alice Academy's members going to react when they found out about the new Alice in town.

"Man, good luck being her partner," the blond lad smirked before his face was hit by a black cushion.

Natsume groaned as he knew he'd be somewhat responsible of his new partner for the next couple of months - if she decided to join the Academy that is.

* * *

A young lady was sitting in front of a French-style ivory dressing table. She wore a cream laced babydoll and was gently brushing her luscious wavy hair in front of the mirror. Her phone beeped slowly in front of her, showing text notifications from her friend who was updating her with the newest gossip within the Academy grounds.

She glanced at the screen and scoffed lightly, "Si désagréable. What an obnoxiously impossible news."

A couple knocks were heard from the wooden double door of her bedroom as she replied, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a man who bowed carefully, "Good evening, Ojou-sama. Will you be attending the Assembly at Alice Academy tomorrow?"

Slowly, the young woman stood up from her cushioned chair, revealing her long slender legs that have received so many compliments in the past, "Yes I will, Sutta-san. Prepare a car for me to leave at 3:30pm sharp."

"Understood, Ojou-sama. Shall I contact Usami-san to join you for the ride?"

"That would be wonderful."

Sutta-san bowed again, as he slowly left the young mistress' room. He had been working within the household for many years, and served as the young lady's personal butler for 2 years now. It was a privilege for him to be able to work closely with such a powerful and ambitious woman, especially the one and only heiress of Koizumi empire. The family has a renowned and distinguished line within Japan's socialite and Alice community for the past five decades, which had gained him respect among fellow butlers who are serving other Japanese households.

On the other hand, the young woman unconsciously clenched her left fist as her right hand reached out to open her phone and read all of the text messages in detail.

If there was a rumor that some _girl_ had become Natsume Hyuuga's partner, then she'd like to clarify it with her own eyes tomorrow.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

Thank you for your patience on this new chapter. I look forward to see your reviews or comments about it!


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Mikan nervously looked up from the manila folder on her lap.

She doesn't usually get carsick, but this evening, she felt a knot in her stomach when the car slowed down in front of a humongous double-iron gate. The tall walls around it looked like it had stood for centuries, and rich green vines were covering the bricks in a protective manner.

The gate opened outwards and the silver sedan smoothly entered the premises. Just a couple seconds afterwards, the gate automatically closed, revealing two guard houses on both sides of the wall.

"Did they open the gate for you?" Mikan curiously asked. She couldn't see the guard houses from the outside.

Permy moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and took a right turn towards the parking garage, "Nope. There's a sensory system in my car that could open the gate. It could sense my car coming from a mile away."

Mikan's eyes widen in awe. The Academy has such an advanced technology. Their car moved towards a basement entrance, and the thick garage gate opened upwards.

"This garage is made for Quest members only by the way," Permy grinned as she continued, " _I_ personally think it has the most strategic location at the center of the Academy."

Quest members are a number of selected people qualified to go to Missions on regular basis, and Permy is one of them. Last night, she had spent 2 hours teaching Mikan the jargons, terms, and membership structure of Alice Academy per Mikan's request. Being a newbie, the brunette wanted to learn everything she could before entering the unfamiliar territory.

Most of the information that Permy gave her could actually be found inside the manila folder. She had read them over and over again - at least for three more times this morning.

"Don't be scared, Mikan. You looked like you were about to take an exam! Really, most people here are really welcoming," Permy gave her an assuring smile, "Besides, you get to meet my girl friends too. I've told them about you, and they're excited to _finally_ meet you."

Mikan gulped and tried to look more confident, "Thanks Permy. I hope I won't stand out that much."

"There are _tons_ of people within the Academy. Trust me, I don't even know half of them."

Permy parked the car in an empty slot that has a tag ' _Catwoman_ ' on it, and Mikan instinctively laughed, "Is Catwoman really your Alice nickname?"

The shapeshifter rolled her eyes in embarrassment, "I was young. It's a long story."

They took the elevator to the first floor, where a sight of a bright lobby welcomed them. The area was spacious, decorated with white lights, polished marble floors and 10-feet-high ceilings. The building itself was made of glass, where people can see neatly trimmed greens surrounding Alice Academy's iconic yellow pathway outside. A few people were chatting casually on the couches that were scattered throughout the floor, while some were wearing lab coats and waiting for the elevator.

"This is the Mission Bunker that I've told you about. I can give you a tour later after the Assembly. Oh! I have my own room too on the eight floor," Permy explained while they started walking towards a sliding glass door to exit the building.

"Oh wow, I wouldn't imagine _this_ when you mention 'bunker' for sure."

On the other side of the lobby, a young woman wearing a pair of checkered slacks and ruffled white top briskly walked towards the glass door, and Permy's face immediately lit up when she saw her, "Hotaru!"

The short-haired inventor looked up from her phone and gave the girls a long stare with her amethyst eyes, before motioned her head towards the exit, "Hurry up, I don't want to be late."

She nodded at Mikan, then continued making her way to one of the numerous golf carts parked outside.

Permy smiled as Hotaru was being a busy body as always, "Hotaru, meet Mikan, my friend that I've been telling you about. Mikan, meet Hotaru, she's literally the smartest person I've ever known."

The two girls shook hands briefly. Hotaru sat on the driver's seat and started the engine on the golf cart. Mikan quickly seated herself in the back, while Permy took shotgun. From a couple seconds of meeting Hotaru, Mikan sensed that this woman is always busy and has no trouble multitasking.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mikan. We've heard all about you for a couple years now."

Mikan did not expect to hear that, especially coming from a stranger that she just met. "You've heard about me for a couple _years_? Oh God, what did you- wait, Permy, you never told me anything about your friends here!"

Permy grinned sheepishly, "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't think it was wise for me to introduce you to people from a super secret organization that no one's supposed to know about."

"We've only heard good things, so rest assured," Hotaru gave her a devilish smile from the rear mirror, and Mikan felt her face grew paler, "Really..."

The trio chatted animatedly as they approached the Administrative Building where the Assembly is being held.

Mikan watched Hotaru and Permy conversing over mundane stuff like how was their weekend, and she felt slightly relieved.

* * *

"Welcome, Alice Academy members," a man in his mid fifties spoke and the room went silent.

The Assembly Hall was crowded, with at least 500 people from teenagers to adults seated in fold-able chairs. Jinno cleared his throat and continued, "I noticed we have more people gathered with us today, what a pleasant _surprise_."

The crowd murmured in agreement, as usually Sunday Assemblies are only attended by half of the crowd, whom are mostly Quest members obligated to come every week as part of their duty. They need to be kept up to date with the latest news and announcements in case helpful for their next Missions.

"We have a couple announcements today. Starting with the good news, our Technical team managed to strike a deal with Japan's Ministry of Environment to build underground drilling system in Fukushima Prefecture. The villages have had limited water resources for the past couple of months, but this project will help them solve this issue. Congratulations to the lead of this project, Hotaru Imai from Technical Division."

Applauds roared around the room, as everyone is familiar with _the_ genius Invention Alice. A certain brunette clapped her hands in awe, and glanced at the girl who was sitting next to her.

"Wow. Hotaru Imai, she's so cool," she whispered to herself, but Permy managed to catch that and smiled, "I think so too."

Jinno looked at the list of items on his paper, and continued mentioning each accomplishment that the Academy had that week. A lead on Technical team successfully sold a multi-million dollar submarine to a private company, while another lead on Latent team managed to cure a spreading disease in Somalia that received recognition from the Somalian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

The more Mikan heard about the deeds of Alice Academy, the more she admired the noble cause the Academy had impacted, and wondered if she could take part in them too.

"Permy, this is so cool! I never knew you were a part of such an amazing organization," Mikan whispered excitedly towards her friend, who grimaced at the compliment. This is the front face of the Academy that most people know about, but they never really knew what was exactly going on behind the screen. Permy nodded in agreement, but kept her thoughts to herself instead.

"Let's move on to the bad news now. Northern Forest is currently off limits because a dangerous object from a Technical team was accidentally let loose in the area. Please avoid the forest until a further notice."

* * *

Natsume closed his eyes as the announcements went on.

He couldn't be bothered with all the boring updates coming from Academy. The only update he cared about is Senshi's location, and no one is willing to give him any information or insight on his whereabouts.

They have Alices who can track people for goodness sake, and he was frustrated that the Academy wouldn't take further action in reprimanding this _criminal,_ even though they were more than capable to do so.

"That concludes all of the updates from Alice Academy's Class Division," Jinnno's voice echoed throughout the room, as the crowd started to break into murmurs.

Natsume opened his eyes, and started listening to the conversations around him.

 _They must have heard it somewhere._

"Hey Nat, do you think they're going to announce it today?" Ruka asked quietly.

"The new girl?"

"Yeah, everyone wants to know more about the rumored new member, and as you can see, they had gathered like never before in today's Assembly."

Natsume inwardly grunted as he hoped to not attract anymore attention, at least not today, even though it seems inevitable.

"Quiet now. We have one last announcement, about a membership update," Jinno's voice boomed in the Auditorium, and the crowd went dead silent.

Everyone started focusing their attention to what Jinno had to say, while he continued reading down the short speech on his paper, "We discovered a new Alice this week, and she is in probation to become a member of Alice Academy."

The room immediately filled with chatters, confirming the gossips they heard and making assumptions of who and what Alice could she be.

"The details about this person will not be disclosed until she is officially a Member of Alice Academy. We decided that this would be good for her own privacy as well. However, if you somehow had the chance to meet her during the probation period, please treat her with respect and courtesy as we always do as fellow Alices."

Jinno briskly left the stage afterwards, leaving the crowd in disappointment and loud chatters started to break within the room, "Is it true that she already has a partner?"

"I heard she was assigned to be with Hyuuga."

"No way! _The_ Natsume Hyuuga?!"

"Why would anyone be partnered with-"

"That is ridiculous! We don't even know anything about her yet."

"Who is this girl anyway? What's her Alice?"

Ruka glanced at his best friend, who looked like he's ready to barbecue someone. So much for not getting attention.

"Let's go, Ruka. This is driving me nuts."

Both lads stood up from their chair and headed towards the exit. Despite all the chaos around them, Ruka could've sworn Natsume's eyes were scanning around the Auditorium, as if looking for a certain someone.

* * *

Mikan sat on one of the benches in the path walk, while her friends looked for a vending machine to fetch some water bottles.

She let go of her breath that she hadn't realized was holding in, and sighed to herself, "I'm so glad it's over now."

Recalling how the crowd inside the Auditorium almost turned into a mob earlier, she continued muttering to herself, "What's the big deal with having a new member anyway?"

"It's a big deal if that new member is _my_ partner."

Mikan's eyes widen and she immediately turned her head towards the person who answered her remark, "You scared me, Natsume."

He looked away, and mumbled a half-hearted apology before continuing, "Be careful."

The brunette tilted her head in confusion, and Ruka decided to step in, "He's worried that people would target you, Mikan. You saw how the crowd reacted earlier. It's best if you keep a low profile until you make up your mind about joining the Academy."

Mikan looked down on the grass, and sighed in frustration, "Thanks guys. I'll try to."

She never liked getting attention from people, especially when she became the new talk of the town. It reminded her of when her parents died and half of Japan tried to dig the news. People never really cared about the impact it could cause the little girl who lost her family, they just needed something to talk about.

Natsume felt bad that she had to be partnered with him, of all people she had to be with him! What was Narumi thinking? He knew the girl would have a harder time adjusting in the Academy. Are they testing her? Or perhaps they didn't actually want her to become an Alice Academy member in the first place?

The more he thought about it, the more curious he became of his new partner.

 _Who exactly is Mikan Yukihira?_

Ruka glanced at Natsume who was deep in thoughts, and a brilliant idea came to his mind. "Mikan-chan, would you like to exchange phone numbers with us? You can just let us know if you need anything."

* * *

"Are you sure that's the girl?"

"Positive. I've never seen her around before."

"..."

"Look! Both Natsume and Ruka are talking to her. Now I'm _definitely_ sure that she's the one."

"Find out more about that girl, I want to know her name and background."

"Leave it to me, Luna-sama. Her face will be all over the Academy News by tomorrow."

"I know I can always count on you, Press President," Luna Koizumi smiled, and walked away from the scene.

She had seen enough. The girl looked very ordinary, and it would be easy to expose her to the Alice community. Whoever that brunette is, she would make sure to teach her to know her place within the Pyramid. After all, only someone from a high pedigree like herself is worthy to be Natsume Hyuuga's partner.

Meanwhile, the Press President took out his camera and quietly snapped a few shots. The faint red mark on his lower neck glowed ever so lightly, as he started heading towards the News Department on the west side of Academy.

It was time to write the article that he promised earlier.

* * *

Permy unlocked the door to her apartment, and held the door for Mikan to come in.

They both took off their shoes, and entered the medium-sized living room where an L-shaped couch was propped facing the TV. On the left side was a kitchen cabinet, complete with a small island and two wooden bar stools. The walls were made of white colored bricks, and the window frames dolled with cream colored curtains. On the short corridor beside the kitchen, two bedrooms were located next to each other, while a bathroom was positioned at the end of the hallway. The place looked modern and cozy, perfect for two university students to share.

"Home sweet home!" Mikan chirped as she jumped on the couch and hugged her fluffy orange pillow.

Permy smiled and headed towards the kitchen, "It's been a long day. How do you feel?"

"I feel good. I think the Assembly wasn't too bad..." Mikan pulled a blanket from the compartment under the couch, and started wrapping herself like a burrito.

Permy raised her eyebrow, "But?"

"It was intimidating. _Very_ intimidating."

Permy walked towards the living room and joined Mikan on the other side of the couch, "You know I'll always have your back."

"I know, I know, and thank you. I don't think I could ever survive this without you, Permy," Mikan grinned and tossed a green pillow towards her, "I'm glad your friends are really nice, or at least they were really nice to me."

Permy laughed as she did not expect that. Sure, many people have told her that Ruka is nice, but Hotaru and Natsume? Now that's a first.

"What's wrong? They are nice, no?"

Looking at her best friend, Permy grinned as she recalled Mikan exchanging numbers with her new friends earlier. Surely those three were curious about Mikan and knew that this upcoming week is going to be a challenge for her. They were not the type of people who would give their personal numbers away for just anyone, and by doing so, they showed that they were willing to care for her best friend, and she appreciated that.

At that moment, Permy was glad that Mikan slowly became part of her inner Alice circle. Little did she knew that a storm was brewing and coming their way sooner than expected.

"Mikan, I haven't properly said it before, but thank you for saving my life."

 _You've proved yourself an Alice more than you ever thought._

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

My apologies for not updating this story for a while!

My goal (2019 Resolution) is to be more committed to this story and start updating at least every two weeks from now, so please bear with me :)

Feel free to leave any thoughts on this chapter/story, I really appreciate them.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

It was the first day of Autumn quarter, and Tokyo University was crowded with students.

A group of freshmen looked nervous as they tried navigating through unfamiliar buildings to reach their classes. On the other hand, a number of seniors were seen wearing slacks and flip flops, as if declaring their eagerness to leave school and graduate as soon as possible.

Two female juniors were walking side by side towards the entrance gate and chatted animatedly about their upcoming classes. They laughed rather loudly when recalling their days as first year students, causing a few heads to turn towards their direction.

"G-good morning, Mikan-san!"

Both girls stopped on their tracks, as a blushing red haired guy stood in front of them. Mikan gave him a cheerful smile, her long brown hair swayed as she bobbed her head towards her classmate, "Morning, Kisaki-kun! Happy first day of school."

Kisaki blushed even more, his cheeks matched the color of his hair. He started walking away towards the opposite direction and exclaimed, "S-see you again!"

With that, he quickly ran off and Permy raised her eyebrows in suspicion, "Hm, does he have a crush on you?"

Mikan laughed at her friend nervously, "Haha, I-I don't know, I mean, if anything, I don't feel anything towards him!"

Permy smirked as she eyed the young woman beside her. Mikan Yukihira might not be the most beautiful girl on campus, but she was surely very attractive. Her face radiated kindness, and she had a bubbly personality that made people genuinely adore her. Permy still couldn't believe no guys had confessed to her for the past 2 years they were in college. Most of their peers admitted they were scared of rejection. Mikan treated everyone nicely and never showed special interest to any of them.

"Wow, Miss popular. I remember we bumped into the poor guy at a bubble tea store last month. He was also stammering back then."

"Said the _real_ Miss popular!"

The short haired girl simply laughed because she couldn't deny the fact. Permy had made her name well known within the campus after all. Her outgoing demeanor enabled her to socialize with a lot of people, especially after she joined the infamous Debate Club on her first year. She had been a key player in winning numerous debate competitions with her team, specializing in topics of human rights and equality.

Mikan, on the other hand, decided to join Philanthropy Club that held fundraising and volunteer events to help homeless and orphans living in poverty. Permy remembered the determination in her eyes when she softly admitted her goal to change young orphans' lives for the better. She said they reminded her of her younger self, and would do anything in her power to keep their spirits alive.

"That's really nice of you to say," Permy paused and turned her head towards her to whisper, "But being nice can be a bad thing too, you know, especially within the Alice community."

Mikan rolled her eyes, as her friend had repeated the same thing several times last night, "Yes, yes, Permy, I know."

"I'm serious! I owe you literally my life, and I want to make sure you stay safe."

The brunette took a deep breath and replied, "You don't owe me anything, Permy. It doesn't work like that."

Permy decided to ignore her, and walked away towards the Environment building, "You're really _too_ nice, Mikan. See you later!"

The young Yukihira shook her head and proceeded to her Philosophy class. From a young age, she knew she always had the tendency to sacrifice so much for others. Maybe it was because she liked to see other people smile. Maybe she wished more people had done the same to her when she was young.

Maybe, if anything, she could make them happier than she ever was.

* * *

The same morning, a set of twins were arguing over a research paper in Keito University's lab. They had booked the space in advance so they could analyze the lab report and submit it as soon as they can. The door slid open, revealing one of their teammates to join the discussion.

"Anna, Nonoko."

The siblings looked up from their desk, looking slightly annoyed.

"Hi Yuu. You came at the right time," said Anna. "Our last experiment was screwed."

Nonoko flipped her dark hair with blue highlights behind her shoulder. She was ready to rant her emotions out, and pointed at the neat writings on their paper, "Someone from our team used kitchen salt instead of Sodium Chloride on this third step. Can you believe it? _Kitchen_ _salt!_ Are we doing some kind of cooking experiment?"

"It's so obvious that the levels of percentage are different in both substances. As a chef myself, I feel offended," the pinkette added fuel to the fire.

"Seriously. I'm so frustrated right now! This is such a rookie mistake. I thought Keito University students are better than this."

Yuu chuckled as he was used to hearing them complaint as a pair. After all, the three had been friends since junior high school, and he was used to being the level-headed mediator. "Now, now, ladies. Maybe this person couldn't find the right solution and decided to substitute it with something else instead."

Anna sighed at his foolish remark. Of all things, Yuu decided to argue against something within Nonoko's expertise.

"What a blasphemy! How dare they mess with something that they have no proper knowledge of. Chemistry is not something to be taken light of! I swear I'll find this person and drag them to the Alice Lab to face my wrath!" Nonoko's eyes glinted, and she went on about using them as her next test subject.

Yuu laughed nervously and glanced at Anna who gave him a 'this is your fault' look.

"Y-you know it's illegal to bring Non-Alices to the Alice Lab. Let's all just calm down-"

"Calm down?!"

"I-I mean, it's just one mistake, there's no need-"

" _Just one mistake?!_ "

Anna sighed in frustration. Seriously, Yuu really never learnt after all these years. She was about to say something, when a couple knocks were heard coming from the door.

The three immediately went quiet and listened to the chattering of students outside, "Is this room occupied?"

"Yes, it is!" Nonoko answered. She glanced at Anna who nodded to confirm, as she was in charge of booking the room.

"Sorry to disturb you!" one of them said, "Hey guys, let's try another room over there."

The group left, and three went quiet.

"So...where were we?"

Nonoko sat down and stared at Yuu, as if trying to strangle him with her dark blue eyes, "Let's not talk about it. I shouldn't have yelled so loudly, especially when mentioning _Alice_."

Anna suddenly remembered her encounter with Mikan, and looked at group with excitement, "Guess what, I already met the new Alice member a few days ago! Remember the announcement from yesterday's Assembly? She is currently in probation right now!"

"Oh, you mean Mikan Yukihira?" Yuu took off his glasses and wiped it with his shirt, "How did you meet her?"

His words took Anna by surprise, as she thought Mikan's identity wasn't disclosed by the Academy. Yuu even got her last name too. "How did you know her name?"

The illusionist glanced at his peers uncomfortably, both females were now waiting for answers from him.

"Didn't you read the Alice Newsletter earlier?" Yuu took his phone out and opened a specific email from his inbox, "It went viral just a few hours ago."

On the main article, there was an image of a brunette sitting in a bench, and a raven haired guy standing closely next to her.

.

 ** _"New Member Mikan Yukihira Looking Chummy with Top Quest Member_**

 _Our mystery girl is finally revealed! What is her secret to have stayed undetected by AA for years? Could she have received help from Zero, or furthermore, associated with them?_

 _Our own Black Cat, Natsume Hyuuga, is rumored to be her partner and they've been spotted talking animatedly with each other. Perhaps the Academy has assigned him to keep track of our newest peculiar addition while she is currently under probation. Click here to read more from our members who claimed to have encountered Yukihira-san during the Assembly yesterday._ _"_

 _._

Nonoko gave Yuu his phone back and snapped, "I don't like this article. This is exactly why her identity was not supposed to be revealed. I'm so disappointed with Hayami-kun."

"I was also surprised when I saw this earlier. It wasn't like Hayami to approve such a gossipy content."

Anna stayed quiet, as she was very much surprised. She really liked Mikan when they met, and couldn't believe the poor girl had to go through some nasty rumors on her first few days in the Academy. Especially during her probation period too.

The pinkette took out her phone and started typing a message, _'Hey Permy, did you see the Newsletter? I hope Mikan's doing okay. Tell her I said hi! Feel free to stop by at the Cafe later. Coffee's on me.'_

* * *

Ruka took a sip of his tea, and glanced at the young woman next to him. She drizzled honey into her tea, and gracefully lifted the cup while pointing her pinky finger upwards.

They were in a balcony on the 15th floor of Mission Bunker, sitting on cushioned chairs facing a small fountain. The area was specially designed to be a garden, a peaceful getaway for Quest members who need fresh air without leaving the building. The weather was nice and cloudy, with a handful of daffodil bushes spread around the grey brick pathways. It looked like they were simply enjoying a tea picnic at 150 feet above the ground.

"So, why did you ask me to come here?" the young woman took a sip of the warm brown liquid and sighed peacefully. It tasted good. Her piercing amethyst eyes looked at Ruka as she continued, "Surely not to enjoy tea this afternoon."

The blond lad grinned sheepishly, as he knew she couldn't possibly say no the lavender-infused Chamomile tea that he offered earlier. Many people knew of Nogi family's obsession with tea, and a couple years ago, Ruka started blending his own leaves that gained popularity within the Elites. The particular floral tea that they were enjoying was a mix of dried chamomiles imported from Hampshire, England, and fresh lavender flowers farmed locally in Nakafurano, a town in Hokkaido.

"You know I specially made this blend because you have a thing for lavender," Ruka chuckled as he drank his portion, "I'm glad you like it."

Hotaru rolled her eyes at his sugar coated words. Over the years, he had muttered some specks of courage to not-so-subtly flirt with her. She used to bully him for goodness sake, but now he acted like he could easily court her. "Don't push it, bunny boy."

The animal-pheromone Alice grinned, as he had caught her attention. He wouldn't have minded asking her to join him for tea every afternoon, but he knew how much Hotaru Imai enjoyed spending time in her massive lab, tinkering with every single technology and equipment that she found fascinating. Too bad that their time in the beautiful garden had to be cut short.

"I assume you have read the Newsletter this morning," he started and saw Hotaru nodded, "Some folks are getting really antsy, and I wonder if Mikan can hold up."

"Perhaps this is a test. To see if she qualifies to be a member."

"Maybe, I'm sure Narumi had predicted that this will happen. Something's fishy."

Hotaru looked at the blond who had a worried expression on his face, "You really care about Hyugga, huh. Where is he?"

Hearing that, Ruka let out a sad smile and looked up to the sky, "He's my best friend, of course I care about him. He's in the Training Room with Koko. Blowing off some steam."

"Of course he is. I'm surprised he hasn't punched Hayami yet."

Ruka's expression changed and Hotaru raised one of her eyebrows, "Oh?"

"He wasn't in the News Department earlier, _luckily_."

Hotaru smirked, "Too bad, he could've made tomorrow's headline with a blue eye."

The young lad couldn't help but chuckle. Natsume would definitely get away with doing something like that.

"I didn't expect him to be wearing the big boots and behave like a good partner for Mikan, though."

"It's not that simple. He had to endure the same thing when he first entered the Academy, remember?" Ruka paused, as he could recall the first time he met Natsume. He definitely left an impression on him as a young boy, when the nine-year-old fire caster looked at him with both sorrow and vengeance in his eyes. News about the Hyuuga family's tragedy traveled fast within Alice community, and soon enough, the whole Academy labeled him as one of the most dangerous Alices ever stepped inside Alice Academy's grounds.

"Back then, he didn't have any partner to support him when he first joined. I think he saw something in Mikan, that reminded him of that past."

* * *

A handful of black mattresses were scattered on the floor, and a boxing bag was hanging in the corner of the room.

Natsume landed one last blow on the heavy bag, then slowly took a couple steps backward. He removed his red boxing gloves, and threw them on the floor. His shirt was soaked from all the sweat, but he wasn't bothered at all. He had attacked the poor sack of sand for the past 30 minutes, yet he felt like it wasn't enough.

After venting his emotions out, the only remaining feeling he had was frustration.

Failing to catch the people from Zero was one thing, but involving an innocent girl into a crappy gossip within the Academy was another. If only he wasn't her partner, then maybe she wouldn't be getting this much negative attention from the first place.

"You are anything but _weak_ , man."

Natsume looked up and saw a grinning Koko who just finished a set of parkour with monkey bars and half-pipes. His whole body was sweating from the exercise, just like himself.

"I told you to stop reading my mind."

Koko laughed and took out a bottle of water from his gym bag, "Sorry, bad habit dies hard."

Whenever Natsume used the punching bag, Koko knew the short-tempered lad was picturing someone's face on the dangling heavy-duty nylon instead. He knew he should avoid mentioning Hayami at that moment, and decided to bring something else up, "Anyway, you should introduce me to your partner sometime. Her name's Mikan, right?"

Natsume shrugged and closed his eyes instead, "One day."

Koko smirked. Without reading his mind, he could tell that his friend was thinking of her. "I'm sure she's a tough one if Naru decided to make her your partner."

"Do me a favor and find out why he chose me."

The mind-reader just shook his head and started packing his stuff, "My feeling tells me that something about her is _different_. In a good way. And who knows, maybe you guys can help each other in the future. Do you even know what her Alice is?"

The raven haired opened his eyes as if he just remembered something important. "Not really."

Koko raised his eyebrows, as he knew Natsume was hesitating, "Is there anything that I should know about?"

The fire caster looked at the mind reader and sighed. He decided to tell him anyway since he could easily read what's on his mind, "Mikan is Permy's best friend. She actually saved her life the other day. Uh, we got an Alice Alert from Permy, she was attacked by Z."

Slowly, Koko's grey eyes were cloudy and he immediately looked away. He was trying so hard to restrain himself from using his Alice on his friend.

"She's doing fine. All of her wounds were healed within an hour since we got to the hospital. She just cried a lot when Mikan was unconscious for a while."

Koko felt the throbbing feeling in his chest were lifted for a couple seconds. He wasn't a Quest member so of course he didn't know about the incident. _Permy is doing fine. She's alright now._

"Thanks for letting me know, Nat," he picked up his bag and slumped it over his shoulder. He should really get some fresh air and clear his mind. "I better get going."

With that, the dark-blond lad quickly headed towards the door and left. Natsume ran his hand through his damp hair in defeat. Maybe he shouldn't have informed him about what happened with his ex-girlfriend. Despite being a mind reader, Koko was pretty much an open book. Anyone could tell he still had feelings for a particular young woman named Sumire Shouda.

* * *

 _Coming here was a very bad idea_ , she thought. _Perhaps joining the Academy_ is _a bad idea._

She glanced at the crowd surrounding her and silently gulped. When she first stepped into the building, a few people stopped her and kindly introduced themselves. As she complied, more people joined the conversation, and before she knew it, there were about 20 people staring at her curiously like she was from a different species.

"Yukihira-san, you don't mind answering some of our questions, wouldn't you?" one of the guys stepped forward and looked at his peers who nodded encouragingly.

"We're just curious, really."

"Yeah, it's really rare to have a new member after you hit puberty, you know."

"What is your Alice?"

Mikan smiled nervously as the crowd kept getting bigger and bigger. The Administrative Building was a hub after all, and she should've known that a lot of people were going to be present. A few passerby actually stopped and joined the crowd to see what the commotion was all about.

"Uhm, sorry, but I really need to go and find Narumi-sensei," she tried to politely decline and took a few steps towards the elevator.

A girl immediately blocked her and said, "It wouldn't take long, really. We're just curious about your Alice."

The brunette felt like these people were testing her patience. They were acting like some sort of entitled paparazzi who demanded answers out of her, while all she was trying to do is to get to Narumi's office.

 _Remember Mikan, first impression matters,_ she repeated the thought, as she proceeded to take baby steps away from the people.

"You're not hiding anything, aren't you?"

"Is she looking down on us because she's Natsume Hyuuga's partner?"

"She couldn't possibly be from...Zero, could she?"

Mikan briefly closed her eyes and politely smiled again. What did her Communication professors told her to do in these kind of situations? Oh wait, they never taught her how to deal with a bunch of people looking like hungry wolves trying to dig her brain out.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but I really need to go. Please excuse me," Mikan lightly bowed, and briskly turned her head to walk away.

Someone forcibly pulled her hand out of a sudden, and she had no choice but to look at the culprit. A bald guy was clenching her wrist, and she winced at the slight pain it caused her.

"We are not done here. You should show some respect when people are talking to you, _newbie_ ," the guy spoke in a demeaning tone, and it made Mikan felt like she was at fault.

 _So much for a warm welcome._

Mikan sighed in exasperation. They're not in high school anymore for pete's sake, or at least not her. After reading the Alice Newsletter from Permy earlier, she should've known to wait for her best friend before going to the Academy by herself. If it wasn't because of her probation status, she wouldn't necessarily have to come and 'report' to Narumi every day for the rest of the week.

"I _am_ being respectful, and I'm not obligated to answer your questions. Now please let me go," she tried pulling her hand, but his grip only became tighter. The crowd murmured as they realized he was getting violent. None of them however, dared to intervene as the guy was a close acquaintance of Natsume Hyuuga.

"How can we trust you? You could be a spy who is trying to deceive us all!" the bald guy snapped and some people gasped upon hearing his accusation. Invaded by a mole from Zero had always been a serious threat for the Academy, and such charge shouldn't be taken lightly. The Newsletter that morning had caused quite a controversy, and this group of anxious people was the manifestation of it.

The brunette felt nervous as the tension was getting heavier. She struggled to break free from the deadly grasp to no avail, and started using her other hand to remove his hold, "Y-you're hurting me, let go -"

Suddenly, the crowd went silent when a figure walked through the circle. They immediately moved backwards when he came close to them.

"Yo, Mochu, release her."

In a matter of few seconds, Mikan's hand was free again, and she instinctively rubbed her wrist to ease the pain. The brunette looked at the source of the voice that saved her and felt extremely relieved. Her knight in a pair of jogger pants stopped next to her. His hand was holding a black duffle bag with yellow star emblem in the middle.

"Isn't that..."

"Yeah, it's Natsume Hyuuga."

"S-should we leave now?"

Natsume glanced at Mochu who became pale, and noticed a faint glowing mark on his neck. He squinted his eyes, as he realized there was a certain someone who purposely orchestrated this scene. He looked at the crowd, as if seeking for the wrongdoer, and said in a cold tone, "If you hurt my partner again, you'll have to deal with me."

The raven haired lad motioned Mikan to follow him, which she wholeheartedly oblige. The people around them immediately made way in compliance, and Mikan couldn't help but wonder who is he exactly. She walked beside him until they stepped inside the elevator, and headed towards the 27th floor where Narumi's office was located.

As the elevator door closed, Mikan found Natsume's crimson eyes staring at hers while she was trying to process what just happened.

Inevitably, they both spoke at the same time,

"Thanks, Natsume."

"I'm sorry, Mikan."

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

As promised, a new chapter after 2 weeks! So proud that I'm still on track with the schedule, lol. Feel free to let me know what you think of this one.

I feel like the plot is going painfully slow - but I'll try to make it go quicker without missing out any details.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

 _..._

 _Red_.

He stared at the scoundrels who were now running towards the door.

 _Burn._

He slowly glanced at his small hands, then at the wall of dancing flames before him. Blazing heat was engulfing the chairs, walls, and paintings inside the mansion.

 _Fire._

His crimson eyes turned darker, and his body started trembling.

 _What had he done?_

"Natsume."

The young boy turned his head. A few steps away from him was a woman sitting on the floor. Her back was awkwardly propped against the wall to support herself from falling. Like himself, her crimson eyes looked dark, and her black hair was tangled in a messy bun. She used her left hand to add pressure on her bleeding thigh, as a trickle of fresh blood oozed from her temple. The woman gave the boy a weak smile and reached her right arm towards him.

"You were really brave, my son. I'm so proud of you."

Instinctively, the boy wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face underneath her chin. _She's safe. She's alive._

"Are you okay, mom?"

The woman nodded softly, as the boy whispered, "After they s-shot you, there was f-fire coming out of my hand.." His small figure shook as he looked up to see her, "What's happening? P-please don't leave me alone."

Kaoru felt a tug in her chest. She never anticipated that her own children would be involved in such accident, and seeing her son desperately clutched her arms made her heart throb. She stroked his hair gently with a motherly affection and said, "I'm okay, Natsume. Everything is going to be okay. I promise, I won't ever _ever_ leave you. Those bullets only scratched me, you see, I'll be alright."

The young boy stayed still. He looked back at the fire before them and a hundred questions lingered on his mind.

Slowly releasing her hand from Natsume's grip, Kaoru took out her necklace and gently wrapped the dangling pale lemon-colored pendant around her fingers. Natsume stared at the stone, as he had seen her wore it several times. It was, however, his first time seeing a radiating light pulsing throughout it's oval surface.

"This stone can create a shield for us. We will be safe here until help arrives," Kaoru said after a faint glow of Barrier Alice formed around them. "Your father is on his way here."

Natsume looked at her and asked, "He would keep Aoi safe, wouldn't he?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure your father will make sure of that," Kaoru said with reassuring voice and squeezed his small hands.

Upon hearing her words, the young boy felt slightly relieved. That day was supposed to be an ordinary Sunday for the Hyuggas. His father had went with his younger sister to buy some strawberries, their favorite fruit, in a grocery store near their house. Afterwards, they were supposed to visit Mikan at her grandpa's house and spend the rest of the day with her.

 _Mikan._

The young boy's eyes shot open, as an image of smiling young girl in pigtails flashed his mind. He hadn't seen her since that rainy night. She was crying by herself, before he came and let her cry on his shoulder until she fell asleep. The next day, his mother told him that she had moved to the suburbs with her grandfather, and they would visit her often.

"How about Mikan?"

A little surprised, Kaoru came into a sudden realization. _Of course._ "Mikan-chan.."

She gazed at the flickering barrier before them with a somber look. They could be targeting Mikan next. She is after all, the legacy of _that_ Alice couple. The whole Alice Community will be keeping their eyes on her, if...

Only if they found out that she exists.

.

 _'You know what I think? This is our curse for being born as Alices._ '

The woman's eyes glazed over as she recalled the memory; a heart to heart she had with her late best friend.

.

' _Promise me that you'll protect her, Kaoru. That you'll protect Mikan, if anything ever happens to us.'_

Kaoru took a deep breath. What should she do?

 _._

 _'I hope my daughter wouldn't have an Alice when she grows up.'_

She bit her lower lip, as a thought - no, an answer had crossed her mind. Is this really the only way out?

.

"Mom?"

Natsume was staring at his mother with an anxious expression. His mother had been quiet, as she was enveloped in her own thoughts. The young boy couldn't help but feel a little antsy. Mikan couldn't possibly be in danger, could she?

Blinking a couple times, Kaoru Hyuuga realized she had to make up her decision soon. She looked at her son, whose Alice had awaken, and gave him a soft reply, "Don't worry, my dear. Mikan is going to be safe. No one can ever hurt her. Not anymore."

A gentle smile was forming on the boy's lips, a smile that only appears when Mikan's name was mentioned. Kaoru watched him with sad eyes, as she knew that she'd miss that sweet look on his face.

 _I'm sorry, Natsume, this is for the best._

 _..._

* * *

Narumi was starting to question whether he made the right call. The number of emails in his inbox were piling up, and it gave him the biggest headache. It was only Monday for Alice's sake. He covered his face with his hands, and decided that he need a break. Coffee break. A couple knocks were heard on the door, and Jinno's head appeared behind the wooden frame, "You did this to yourself, Naru."

He closed the door and left, causing Narumi to feel even more frustrated. Did he _really_ have to stop by only to point the matter of fact in his face?

Mikan and Natsume's partnership had became a major issue within the Academy. Everyone, especially those from higher-up management, was questioning Narumi's motives. He had to join a number of emergency meetings that day, only to explain his reason: he saw potential for both Alices to help each other in utilizing their powers. Of course, he decided to keep his real reason in secret. Another set of knocks were heard on the door, and the middle-aged blond groaned, "If that's you again, Jinno, I swear -"

Instead of seeing his colleague, a pair of hazel eyes met his instead, and Narumi's face lit up with a grin, "Oh hello, Mikan-chan!"

The brunette smiled and stepped inside the office, "Good afternoon, Narumi-sensei. I'm here to uh, report to you."

She stepped inside the room, and following her was a lad with an annoyed look on his face. Their teacher's grin grew bigger as he saw the duo together, "Why of course. I'm glad Natsume-kun can join us today."

Seeing the carefree attitude that his direct supervisor had, Natsume rolled his eyes, as as he found it hard to take Narumi seriously when he looked like he was goofing around most of the time. "I can't believe you haven't taken down the Newsletter, Naru."

Narumi shook his head and replied lightly, "It is too late for that, Natsume. The only thing that we can do is to minimize the damage. Hayami will of course, need to provide an explanation behind all these.. _mess_."

Inside, the raven haired felt a little grateful that he hadn't been able to punch Hayami in the face. His reckless action would've caused a bigger issue than it already was.

"Sensei, do I need to come and see you everyday until my probation period is over?" Mikan asked straight to the chase. She was getting frustrated with her current situation, and didn't even want to _think_ about what happened earlier in the lobby. She only knew that she better lay real low for the next few days.

Narumi chuckled, as her straightforward behavior reminded him of someone dear to him, a similar brunette from his past.

"Would you two like to take a walk to Central Town? Let us all have a quick chat over coffee."

.

Anna Umenomiya smiled widely when she saw her customers stepping inside Morukawa Cafe that evening. She immediately went outside of the cashier counter and greeted them in a heartbeat.

"Oh, Mikan, I'm so glad to see you again!" The baker gave Mikan a big hug, surprising the brunette for receiving such affection.

"Happy to see you too, Anna. I missed your cake already."

The pinkette looked at the two males behind Mikan, and politely nodded towards them, "Welcome to Morukawa Cafe, Narumi-sensei and Natsume-kun!"

Inhaling the bitter smell of coffee in the room, Narumi felt his previous headache started to dissipate. _Those coffee beans must be made of magic._ He quickly ordered 3 cups of Latte and a slice of banana cake, which Anna swiftly noted on the register.

Anna decided that Mikan's order will be on the house, receiving a flustered 'thank you' from the brunette who was grateful for her kind gesture. After all, that was the least that she could do to cheer her up. She noticed that Mikan was unusually calm in this situation, if it was her, she would've freaked out really badly. Dealing with all the gossip and pressure from everyone around them is in _no_ way easy. Anna really liked Mikan since the first time they met, as she seemed very genuine; a trait that Anna appreciated most. Hopefully the brunette would decide to stay in the Academy after her probation period's over.

"Just text me if you're coming next time. I'll make sure to give you samples of my new recipes." The pinkette winked, causing a giddy smile to form on Mikan's lips, "You're the best, Anna! I'll do that for sure."

.

Natsume couldn't help but make a mental note that Mikan Yukihira was a warm and cheerful person. Her face lit up during her whole conversation with Anna, and she wouldn't shy away from expressing her emotions. It was a shame that a single article could leave a bad impression on such a kind person.

He was grabbing his paper cup filled with coffee, when Anna suddenly chirped, "Oh, and Natsume! I was meaning to say this a while ago; don't hesitate to let me know if you need more of those strawberry-based cake recipes. I remember Aoi mentioned that you tried-"

"I'll let you know. Thank you, Anna," Natsume quickly said before the pinkette finished her words. He could feel his cheeks burning and immediately proceeded to an empty table, followed by Narumi and Mikan.

Anna chuckled from the counter, as she realized the young man didn't want other people to know that he had asked her for cake recipes. Mikan sat next to him with raised eyebrows. "Do you like to bake, Natsume?"

The raven haired brushed his hair with his fingers, slightly frustrated. He didn't want people to know that he had _attempted_ to bake, once. It was for Aoi's birthday, and also one of the worst decisions he ever made.

"Not really."

Mikan took the hint and bit back a smile when she saw his flushed face. It seemed like there is a rather soft side within her partner, and she hoped she could see more of that in the future, "I can't bake either, but I love eating cakes, especially strawberry shortcakes."

.

Observing the two was Narumi Anju, who looked very satisfied. _He had made a good decision after all._

"Instead of reporting to me for the rest of the week, I would like you two to spend time together in the Academy every day instead."

Raising his gaze, Natsume looked at the blond teacher and wondered what he was scheming this time. Everything seemed off right from the beginning. Typically Alices wouldn't be assigned a partner until they officially pledge to be a member. He also never heard of members under probation who were allowed to roam free within Academy's ground without an authorized personnel's supervision. Natsume might be a high-rank Quest member, but he had no administrative or teacher role that gave him that level of responsibility.

As if reading his mind, Narumi continued, "We can all agree that someone should watch over Mikan while she's under probation. Seeing how things had turned out for the past 24 hours, we should prioritize her safety and privacy at all cost. This role couldn't be more perfect for other than her partner, who is Natsume-kun."

Natsume glanced at Mikan, who was looking at her coffee with a worried expression. He decided to nod quietly and asked, "What should I do?"

"Please show Mikan the regular routine of an Alice Academy member. You know, the usual," Narumi paused, as if debating whether he should mention the last bit of instruction, "Also, please show her the Mission Bunker. Basement level."

Upon hearing that, Natsume's eyes widen in surprise, "But, Naru, you can't possibly-"

"Rest assured, I will take care of it. Perhaps you can give her that special tour on her last day of probation."

Mikan felt her head spinning as there was so many information to take. She didn't even had the chance to process everything as one event led to another, and it drove her a little crazy. She felt a hand was stroking her shoulder. It was Narumi sensei's, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. His eyes grew lighter as he spoke in a soothing voice, "Don't worry, Mikan. You're in good hands. Natsume here will help you discover more about your Alice."

Strangely, Mikan felt a rush of peaceful feeling through her veins, and saw Narumi's eyes glinted for a few seconds. _Could he possibly be using his Alice to calm her down?_

Before she had the chance to ask, the blond man looked at the blinking alerts on his phone and quickly stood up from his chair, "Unfortunately, I must take my leave now, I'm already late for a meeting in the Headquarters. It was nice chatting with you both."

As Narumi-sensei left, Mikan could feel her train of thoughts coming back to her. She was about to close her eyes, when a plate of dessert was placed next to her hand.

"Here, you should eat something sweet."

The brunette looked at the young man next to her, whose hand was mid-air; he was holding a tiny fork, prompting her to take it. She was surprised, yet grateful, and gladly took the fork, "Thank you. Something sweet sounds good at the moment."

Mikan took a small bite of the warm cake with cream cheese frosting and gushed, "This is really good."

Unconsciously, Natsume smiled when he saw her face lighten up.

.

"How do you feel?"

The brunette looked up from the plate. A pair of concerned crimson eyes were staring at her. She started fidgeting with her fingers, as she didn't know what to say.

"I'm scared. I feel a little overwhelmed," Mikan squeaked as she felt a rush of emotion filling up her head. She was so used to hiding how she really felt on the outside. Her composed demeanor was a facade that she always pulled in front of others. However, after the momentum was gone, her emotions would hit her at once, entrapping her within a bubble of anxiety that she found hard to escape.

Her eyes glazed with tears, but she quickly let out a small nervous laugh to hide them, "B-but you know, I think I'll be fine. I'm sure everyone has to go through the same thing, right?"

Natsume saw the glistening water on her fingers when she wiped her eyes quickly. He didn't like that worried expression on her face. The first few days in the Academy were always hard for new members, but Natsume felt that she had it worse. _This was all because she was partnered with him._

The fire caster started to recall his past experience and said, "It's normal to feel scared and overwhelmed. You had a normal life, and suddenly you discovered that you possess a special power that basically changed your life forever. _That,_ is not easy," Natsume couldn't believe those words were coming out of his mouth, but continued nevertheless, "My first week in the Academy was also terrible. I was only nine years old when I joined. Similar like you, I became the talk of the town on my first day here. It was all thanks to Ruka who helped me see things differently, that I decided to stay. I hope you get to see that too; the _good_ side of the Academy, and a reason or two for you to stay."

Mikan didn't actually expect him to comfort her. His words were encouraging and somehow patched her weary heart. She found empathy in his eyes, which made her feel calmer than before. The young man before her seemed different from the scary flame thrower who gave her snarky attitude a few days ago. Perhaps, she should rely on this person more, just like Narumi had suggested her to.

"Thanks Natsume, I feel a lot better after hearing that from you," the brunette smiled, "For what it's worth, I'm glad to have you as my partner."

For a few seconds, the raven haired lad was taken aback after hearing Mikan's honest acknowledgement. He smiled boyishly after the meaning behind her words sank in, and replied, "Anytime, _partner_."

Both of them decided to stay for another hour and chat inside the Cafe. They talked about their first day back in the University as well as their mundane college life. One would've thought that they were once-close acquaintances who were catching up on their lives. Little did they know, that Anna was peeking at them behind the counter. Her lips turned into a broad smile when seeing the two get along pretty well.

 _What a unique pair_ , she thought, _one of the most dangerous Quest members in Alice Academy, and the new mysterious Alice in town._

* * *

...

 _Narumi looked at the boy who was sitting on the couch,_ _gazing at the rain outside the window with a blank expression._

 _They were at the Headquarters, and it was his first time meeting Natsume Hyuuga._ _When Kaoru-senpai called him with urgency in her voice, he felt his heart stopped. For a few seconds, he was reminded of one of the worst phone calls in his life that traumatized him until that day_ _._ _The blond teacher seated himself across the young lad who was still staring at the droplets of water. He could only imagine how the boy must have felt. A few days ago, he and his mom was attacked by members from Zero, a new rising Anti-Alice Organization that had inflicted rage within Alice Community._

 _"Natsume-kun, why do you want to join Alice Academy?"_

 _The young boy looked at the adult before him with a cold look. He thought of his mom who was still in the hospital, who tried assuring him that she was going to be fine, even though he clearly knew she wasn't after hearing the surgeon's test results. The young Natsume took out his right hand groggily, then concentrated all of his energy to his palm, and successfully summoned a fire ball, leaving an astonished Narumi who witnessed his action. The boy wasn't supposed to have so much control over his Alice in just a few days after his power awakened._

 _With venom in his words, Natsume's crimson eyes turned darker and he looked at Narumi in the face,_ _"I want revenge."_

 _..._

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

 **A/N**

Here you go folks, another chapter!

Also, thank you for all of your kind reviews! I love reading what you think about the story. Knowing that you're looking forward to the next chapters really warmed my heart :)

See ya in 2 weeks ~


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Hotaru Imai glanced outside of the tinted car's window. Her hand was holding one of her favorite purses, a Bottega Krim Knot clutch that she had owned for a while.

 _If only she could skip the event that night._

Yoru Kashiba was standing by the pristine white Maserati Quattroporte where she had been sitting inside. He had been her personal driver, and also an employee for the Imai household since Hotaru was just a toddler. After another minute passed, Hotaru finally opened the door, in which Yoru immediately assisted her with.

A majestic sight of Tokyo Art Gallery welcomed the young woman, as the modern art museum was surrounded with rotating LED lights that emphasized it's sophisticated architecture. A couple potted trees were carefully positioned around the corners to add a natural touch to the pale concrete structure. That Thursday night, a mid-tier Fundraising Gala was hosted by the Usami family. However, the venue itself was sponsored by the Elite to raise money for the Japanese Art Preservation Bill.

Hotaru was the sole representative from her family to attend the high-status event, as her parents were on a business trip to Norway. Her older brother had been typically in charge of going to such occasions whenever their parents weren't around. However, he was performing an important neurosurgery for the daughter of Japan's Minister of Justice that evening, who had a minor accident that caused a damage on her spinal chord. Subaru Imai was one of, if not the best, surgeons in the nation to help with her recovery.

"Have a great night, Hotaru-sama," Yoru bowed lightly as the young lady gracefully climbed out of the car. Her long off-shoulder Dolce & Gabbana black dress briefly swiped the floor, as she proceeded to walk towards the stairs.

With a restrained voice, she replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Thank you, Yoru-san. I'm sure this would be a _great_ night indeed."

.

"Look, isn't that Yakumo-san?"

"Oh my, you're right. He looks so cool today with that Burberry tux."

"Isn't that Goshima-san next to him? Wow, they both look stylish as always!"

A number of females were gushing over some of the male guests that night, while a particular brunette was listening carefully as she munched on the _hors d'oeuvre_ instead _._ The caramelized _foie gras_ on top of pesto bruschetta melted in her mouth when she took a bite, and she decided that she will be taking seconds soon.

Mikan didn't realize that an eighteen-year-old named Erika Fujiko was eyeing her; to be specific, her _attire_ that evening.

When Erika first saw the brunette, the teenager had to admit that the young woman looked beautiful wearing a long-sleeved, dark gray skater-styled dress that fell above her knees. A pair of black pumps complimented her curvy figure, while her long brown hair was pulled in a neat ballerina bun. From her earlobes dangled a pair of long silver earrings to add a slight grandeur touch.

Her outfit looked suitable for the black-tie dress code that night, as the Japan Art Preservation Fundraising Gala, or JAP Gala for short, was a private event for those of high stature background only. Each of the guests had received not only an exclusive invitation, but also a beautifully painted _ōgi_ , Japanese traditional folding fan, painted by the infamous Haruyo Morita herself. Erika was more than curious to know _who_ the brunette was. As a newcomer in the Elite circle, thanks to her family's rocketing property business in Osaka for the past few years, Erika was determined to expand her network as much as possible; starting by attending events where socialite tend to gather, like the Gala that night.

Signaling her friends to follow her, the Fujiko heiress approached Mikan with a warm smile. "Hi there. I _just_ have to stop by and say that your outfit looks _so_ edgy. It looks really good on you."

Looking at her new company, Mikan nervously laughed as she could guess where this conversation is going, "Oh, thank you. That's really nice of you to say."

Erika took a sip of her champagne and casually started a conversation, "Can I ask in which boutique did you purchase the dress from? I haven't seen that model around the ateliers in Ginza. Perhaps you purchase them from a new emerging designer in Milan's Fashion Week last month?"

Mikan cringed upon hearing the question. This was one of the reasons why she didn't like going to such events. Guests were expected to showcase their wealth by wearing high-end luxury goods, and unfortunately Mikan was no ordinary guest. Earlier during the day, Takashi called to reminded her to attend the event, _'The Usami family always had a close relationship with the Yukihira. You should stop by at the Gala tonight.'_ Mikan tried to point out that no one would've cared whether she shows up at the Gala, but Takashi would hear none of it.

The twenty-one-year old brunette politely smiled to the younger woman before her, who was wearing a cute little black dress that Mikan assumed cost more than her monthly apartment rent. Her blonde hair was in a stylish updo, and she was wearing a glimmering ruby necklace. Mikan was hesitant for a good second, before she bluntly said, "I bought this dress from Zara. You know, that clothing store in Harajuku branch."

Without missing a beat, Erika gasped and gave her another look from head to toe. She forced out a smile, as she realized that this brunette was nothing but a _mere_ commoner. "Ah, yes. I know of that.. _retail_ shop," she started to walk away before snickering, "What an interesting choice to wear to a high esteemed Gala, I'd say."

The brunette couldn't believe what she just heard. _What an arrogant_ _brat_. Mikan felt annoyed, yet she decided to not say anything, which made her feel even more frustrated.

Taking a deep breath, Mikan decided that it was time to take more of the delicious _foie gras_ to cheer her up.

 _It is going to be a long night._

.

A red-haired man in his late twenties casually stood next to the open bar. He wore a slightly tinted glasses and a pair of dark maroon tux, while making sure to not stand out much. After all, being surrounded by fans was last on his list that night. He ordered a glass of Whisky on the rock, and the bartender immediately fixed him the drink. After a few minutes, his hand was holding a chilled Tumbler filled with light brown liquor and sphere-shaped ice.

"There you are, I've been looking for you."

The man turned around at the person who tapped his shoulder, and smiled charmingly, "You look gorgeous as always, milady."

Ignoring the compliment, the young woman ordered a glass of Long Island Ice Tea instead. The v-line white Oscar de La Renta dress that she wore hugged her slim figure and exposed her cleavage sexily. A few men were caught stealing glances at her as she seated herself on the bar stool.

"Have you seen the picture I sent you?" she whispered quietly as she took the drink that the bartender placed in front of her.

Sipping his glass, the man replied lightly, "Why of course. In fact, that picture is the _only_ reason I came here tonight. I'm sure Boss would be pleased to-"

"No," the young woman said in a stern voice, "Not a word to him. Not _yet_."

Hearing her respond, a confused look came across his face, as he took a few strands of her long hair and twirled it around his fingers, "But why, my dear? Why hiding it?"

The young woman pouted but didn't reply to his question, which only made him even more curious. Nevertheless, he decided not to argue and raise his hands in an 'i-give-up' manner, "Alright, I'm not going to ask any further. Your wish is my command, princess."

Hearing his respond, the woman's expression turned brighter, as she clinked her glass towards his, "You're the best, Reo-kun."

Reo Mouri chuckled, as that wasn't the first time he received the compliment. He was surprised that the young lady was in a good mood despite her nasty attitude for the past few days. He chugged the remaining liquor in his glass, and raised one of his eyebrows in excitement, "Now, about the image. Tell me more about this... _new girl_ on the block. What's her name."

The woman paused for a second, before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to give away the information, "Mikan. Her name is Mikan Yukihira."

* * *

Japanese Art Preservation Bill was one of the Elite's collaborative effort to conserve Japanese traditional art and culture. Older socialites were concerned that youngsters nowadays would forget their precious heritage, as globalization had caused new generations to be influenced by the Western ways a _little_ too much to their liking. Therefore, they decided to utilize Elite's network to create an impact, and kicked off the campaign with JAP Fundraising Gala in order to raise money and gain supporters. They were hoping that the Bill can be approved by Parliament on their next session. On the other hand, plenty socialites decided to take advantage of this event as a fun socializing event instead.

The main event of the night was nonetheless a Painting Auction from at least 10 various artists. Standing in the middle of the crowd, was the museum's curator who excitedly described each painting in detail, starting from the one with lowest bid at one million yen. A number of critics were taking notes of the detailed information that he provided, while a couple of interested guests were starting to name their offering price.

Hotaru Imai arrived just in time when the auction started. She had however, no interest in enjoying the event tonight. Her only goal was to briefly meet with the main hosts, Denji and Hisae Usami, while avoiding their daughter, Wakako Usami at all cost.

Her eyes were fixated on a couple at the far corner of the room. They seemed to be entertaining a female guest while pointing to some of the paintings merrily. She quickly made her way there and tapped on the man's shoulder, "Excuse me, Denji-san."

The man in his late fifties with bright grey eyes and slightly tubby stomach turned around, and smiled upon seeing her face, "Hotaru! So nice to see you, my dear." Denji took a step back to reveal the people whom he was conversing with.

"It's been a while, Hotaru, love. We're glad to have you tonight," Hisae lightly touched the young woman's back, receiving a polite smile in return from the Imai heiress. "The pleasure is mine, Hisae-san."

Denji smiled widely as he handed her a glass of wine, "We barely see you in these kinds of events, Hotaru. What a pleasant surprise! I recall your parents are currently in Oslo?"

"Yes they are. In fact, they just landed safely this morning." Hotaru took the glass, appreciating his hospitality.

The man rubbed his chin lightly and thought aloud, "My, my, your father has always been interested in the healthcare industry there. I can't wait until I hear back from him once he's back in Tokyo."

Hisae rolled her eyes and smirked, "Boys. Business is _always_ what they talk about," she paused before giving a brunette next to her a teasing look,"Isn't that right, Mikan?"

Hotaru looked at the female guest next to Hisae, and found her amethyst eyes widen when she saw the familiar figure who looked equally as surprised as she was.

"Mikan?"

"H-Hotaru?"

The Usami couple looked at the two young women, and noticed that they must have known each other.

"My, my, what a small world, it is!"

.

Mikan glanced nervously at the person next to her. Meeting someone from Alice Academy was the last thing that she thought could happen that night. They sat near the buffet table, where Hotaru Imai was downing her fourth portion of sea urchin and crab roe shooter topped with caviar. She gracefully wiped her mouth with a napkin, before taking a sip of her white wine.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything? Their crab legs are really fresh too," the black haired woman looked at the empty crab shells on her other plate and continued, "I was told that they were caught earlier this morning and shipped directly from Sapporo."

Mikan was already too full at this point, so she just grinned and said, "I'm sure of it, I already ate a lot earlier. And what I mean is, _a_ _lot_. I had at least five servings of _foie gras canapé!_ "

Hotaru silently smiled as she appreciated that Mikan had a big appetite. Perhaps they should dine together once in a while. "Do you go to these kind of Elite events often?"

The brunette scoffed and quickly replied, "Yep, I go too much, to be honest. How about you?"

"Not really. Either my parents or my older brother, Subaru, would go. Unfortunately they are all occupied tonight."

"I see that you're here against your will as well," Mikan chuckled and continued, "I'm glad we're both in the same boat."

Hotaru was about to ask her a question, when she noticed from the corner of her eyes, that a female with shoulder-length black hair was walking towards their direction; or to be exact, towards _Hotaru's_ direction. She immediately stood up, grabbed Mikan's arm, and looked around for an exit. Meeting that crazy woman would be the last thing she'd do. "Let's go get some air."

The two women briskly made an exit through the back door, with Mikan looking slightly worried, as Hotaru's hasty demeanor reminded her of Permy on the night they were ambushed. _Hopefully nothing crazy will happen that night._

A young woman with a pair of dark purple eyes and Elie Saab's silver jumpsuit pouted her mouth when she finally reached the buffet table. She was already too late; the short-haired woman whom she was looking for had already left the scene.

Biting the tip of her thumb, she muttered with disdain in her voice, "You'll see, Imai. I'll get you next time."

* * *

The museum's curator finally revealed the last item to be auctioned that night. It was propped on an easel and was covered with black cloth. As soon as he lifted the fabric, all eyes were glued on the precious piece of history in shock.

In the middle of the stage, was an original painting of _Jigoku Dayu_ (Hell Courtesan) by Kawanabe Kyōsai. The artwork was dated back to 1874 and had became a part of Japan's important cultural heritage. It was beyond unexpected to find a historical item amongst them that evening, as the artwork had been sold at 50 million yen a few years ago, and was last seen inside a highly secured art museum in Kansas.

Before anyone was able to utter a word, a man with clean cut hairstyle and black Armani tuxedo stepped forward. With no hesitation in his voice, he boldly stated, "Eighty million."

Murmurs were buzzing around the room, as the guests recognized the high bidder. Hijiri Goshima was one of Japan's wealthiest bachelor who owned a highly valued trading company. He started the business four years ago, and had robustly expanded the company's outreaches and created branch offices in 31 different prefectures within the past year. He was able to gain a lot of interest and support from large-scaled investors, just based on his business development skills.

Surprisingly, another man in white tux stepped forward and playfully stared at Hijiri. He smirked, creating slight wrinkles on the long scar under his left forehead, before saying casually, "Eighty five million."

Hijiri Goshima raised one of his eyebrows, as he knew what kind of game the man was playing. He squinted his eyes towards him, while Hajime Yakumo slightly chuckled instead.

The museum's curator, who was also the emcee, became a little flustered as the guests had started bidding before he had a chance to give the cue. He looked at Hajime, who had a reputation for his eerie demeanor, and smiled nervously, "W-what a wonderful surprise! We are at _85 million yen_ at the moment. Is anyone willing to top that offer?"

"Ninety million," Hijiri paused as Hajime silently laughed this time. Feeling even more annoyed at his supposed 'friend's' behavior, Hijiri decided to continue, "Actually, make it a hundred million instead. A hundred million yen for the _Jigoku_ _Dayu._ "

.

Reo Mouri was leaning against the wall when he watched the last bit of auction in amusement.

He shook his head as he had underestimated the power of Elites this time. He wondered who had told old man Denji that someone amongst the guests had been _desperate_ to obtain that painting for years. An image of a particular young lady whom he had encountered earlier crossed his mind, and he felt a slight shiver down his spine. _What a scary woman indeed._

"Enjoying the show, Reo- _sama_?"

The red haired turned his head towards the voice, with an irritated look plastered on his handsome face, "Very funny, Yakumo."

Hajime Yakumo looked pleased when he stood next to him, and playfully nudged his elbow, "Whaddya think of the show I put up earlier? Wasn't I such a great actor? You should recruit me in your next movie or something."

Ignoring the man's ridiculous ego, Reo said instead, "Let's see if Goshima still wants to talk to you after this."

"Oh, he will. He won't let this one slip easily for sure."

Reo gave him a mocking look and replied sarcastically, "I can only wonder why. Alas, it definitely was _not_ Goshima who lost the bid on that painting a couple years ago and went crazy afterwards. Surely, it wasn't him, or you, who broke into the museum, only to find that the painting had been moved to America. Am I right?"

Hajime grinned as he could still recall the day he and Hijiri tried breaking into the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Of course, he was the one who initiated to steal the expensive work of art to his buddy. That incident had caused a whole lot of mess for both of them. His father threatened to remove his birthright as one of Yakumo Foundation's heir, in which forced him join the family business earlier than he thought he would. "Good times, I'd say. Good old times. "

Hearing his respond, Reo simply rolled his eyes as he knew this person had done even crazier things in his life than just breaking into a building, especially when it comes to the dirty underground businesses.

"Anyway, how did Denji know about Goshima's bizarre obsession on that painting?"

The black haired man swiped the long bangs that covered half of his face and snickered, "I'm sure you already know the answer to that. That _woman,_ was simply returning Hijiri a favor."

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Mikan opened her apartment door and immediately locked it once she was inside.

 _Finally_ , she thought. _Home sweet home._

It was 1 a.m. in the morning, and Hotaru had graciously given her a ride home in her luxury car. The brunette took off her heels, and propped herself on the bouncy sofa. Her long brown hair cascaded messily to the floor, as she removed her bun, tilted her head back, and gave her tired body a long lazy stretch.

She took a glance at Permy's black combat boots by the door, and noted that he friend had returned safely from a Level 2 Mission. She was simply scouting an warehouse that was suspected to be one of Zero's hideout. Even though Mikan wasn't familiar with Zero yet, she knew that every Quest members in the Academy resented them, including a certain raven haired whom Mikan called partner. She heard that he almost never skipped any Mission related with Zero, and she couldn't help but wonder why.

For a few minutes, the brunette decided to rest her eyes while her mind wandered to the Gala earlier. She still couldn't believe that she had met another Alice from the Academy who was also part of the Elite community. Little did she knew, that the Alice and Elite community were more interconnected than it seemed.

Looking at her phone, Mikan found an unopened text in her Inbox that was sent half an hour ago. She must had been talking with Hotaru on their ride back together, and didn't notice the message. Clicking it open, the young woman smiled inwardly as she saw who the sender was. They had been texting each other for a few days now, and somehow she always felt excited to hear from him. Perhaps it was because of his low-key caring attitude, even though he could seem indifferent from the outside.

 _'It's already so late, be careful and let me know once you're home, Mikan. Goodnight.'_

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

 **A/N**

Sorry for the late update, folks! I've been busy with work and also did plenty of research in order to write this chapter, so that might be part of the reason too, lol.

I forgot how fun it was to interact with readers until I started using Wattpad, but I guess I'll start doing it bit by bit here in Fanfiction.

This chapter is dedicated to SunBabyBoss who had been an avid reader & reviewer since the beginning :)

Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

A young boy with soft brown hair and clear grey eyes slammed the orphanage door open in a hurry.

He ran towards the front yard with excitement in his eyes, as a certain figure entered the premises with a big box in her hands. As loud as possible, he called out in his slightly squeaky six-year-old voice while the figure fumbled to close the wooden gate behind her, "Mikan-nee! You're finally here, I miss you so much, Mikan-nee!"

The brunette turned around in surprise and giggled as the young boy hugged her knees with all his might. It only had been seven days since she last saw him, yet it felt like ages ago at the same time, "Good morning, You-chan. Oh I miss you too!" She placed the box on the ground, and knelt down to give the boy a squeeze, "Have you been a good boy this week?"

Youichi Hijiri nodded vigorously as he looked at his favorite caretaker with a proud look, "I helped Yuna-chan made a _b-bracelet_ yesterday," He scrunched his nose as he stuttered to pronounce the word, "She also said that I did a good job."

"Wow, I'm so proud of you, You-chan! We should make a bracelet together too."

"But Jun-kun said it was a girly thing to do," the boy frowned when he remembered being laughed at by his particularly naughty classmate. "Am I girly, Mikan-nee?"

Mikan laughed and stroked his hair lightly. With a teasing look, she lifted him up in her arms and said gently, "I think that makes you look _very_ chivalrous, You-chan. Do you know that helping your friends in need, will make you look even more handsome?"

Upon hearing her compliment, Youichi blushed and grabbed her shoulder with his small hands, "O-okay then, let's make bracelet together, Mikan-nee."

Akane Shouko was smiling by the door as she watched the exchange between the two.

The middle aged woman had been running the Tanoshii Orphanage for eight years, and never met a young caretaker who was as dedicated as Mikan Yukihira. The cheerful and caring brunette initially volunteered at the orphanage when she first joined Tokyo University's Philanthropy Club. She would occasionally bring books, toys, clothes, and even food for the orphans. After a few months, Akane decided to hire her as a part-timer in the orphanage to help her with errands, paperwork, and even maintaining relationship with their sponsors. Even though Akane had a few employees helping her with day-to-day chores, she felt that Mikan brings a positive energy whenever she visits, in which she believed exactly what the children need.

All the orphans fell in love with her since day one, including little Youichi who tend to give the adults a hard time with his stubborn personality. The young boy first came to the orphanage when he was four years old, and had been very quiet. The police said that the poor kid witnessed his parents being murdered in front of his eyes, which might have traumatized him since. However, he began to open up more since Mikan started visiting the institution, and would follow her like a little puppy wherever she goes.

Noticing that Akane was standing nearby, Mikan gave her a polite smile. She was about to walk towards her, before Akane signaled her to continue her conversation with Youichi instead.

After all, no one could make Youichi had such a lively expression except for Mikan. It was clear that the young woman had a special kind of affection to him as well, and Akane wondered if it was because she too had lost her parents at a very young age.

.

"Look! It's a Rapunzel doll, oh wow, she looks so pretty."

"I call dibs on that robot, don't you take it, Saki-kun!"

"There are so many stuffed animals! I want _that_ one!"

The children were circling the big box that Mikan was carrying earlier. Their eyes twinkled upon seeing the toys that were stacked inside. The Philanthropy Club had been accepting toy donations throughout the school break, and each member had taken their time to carefully go through each item, to make sure they were still in good condition and non-hazardous for children. After carefully cleaning the toys if needed, they would give them away to five different orphanages that they collaborated with, including Tanoshii Orphanage that Mikan was in charge of.

Akane clapped her hands twice to get attention from the kids and said, "Everyone, what should we say to Mikan-nee for bringing us these presents?"

The little kids looked up from the box and chorused almost immediately, "Thank you, Mikan-nee!"

Mikan smiled when looking at the sweet faces of the children and replied, "You're very welcome. Don't forget to share them with your friends, okay."

As the children started playing with their new toys, Mikan proceeded to the kitchen and helped Akane made chicken and vegetable curry for lunch.

She just finished cutting the potatoes when her phone rang, and immediately picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mikan. You weren't answering your messages, so I thought I'd call."

Mikan's eyes widen upon hearing the familiar husky voice, as she realized she had completely forgotten the time. She was supposed to meet him to have a look around the Mission Bunker, and was carried away with her routine in the orphanage instead, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I wasn't checking my phone this whole morning!"

"No worries. Good thing I called," he paused for a moment before continuing, "How about I give you a ride later? Are you going to be home?"

"Really? That'd be awesome! I'm not home though, I'm at the Tanoshii Orphanage right now," Mikan said while signaling Akane that she was going to step outside of the kitchen for a bit.

"Tanoshii Orphanage?" A surprised voice asked from the other line, and the brunette couldn't help but let out a sheepish smile when an idea popped in her mind.

"Actually, are you free right now? Do you want to join us for lunch? We're having curry today."

* * *

Hayami Jinso was pacing back and forth inside his Press President Office in the News Department, a worried look was visibly plastered on his face.

Almost a week had passed since the Academy News incident, yet he still couldn't bring the courage to apologize to a certain girl named Mikan Yukihira. He felt terrible when he read the article about her, and even worse after finding out that _he_ had written the post and published it to the entire Alice Academy's mailing list!

"Stop pacing back and forth, you idiot, you don't even know what happened that day, moreover remembered that you wrote it."

Hayami looked at his friend, Tsubasa Andou, who was casually sitting on the sofa. The black haired man with a star tattoo under his left eye was munching on roasted almonds, and waved his hand in a relaxed manner, "I'll accompany you to apologize to her in person, how about that? I'm sure she would understand after hearing your explanation."

Sighing loudly, Hayami pushed his glasses above his head and sat on his chair, "Thanks a lot, man. I feel horrible. If only I could make it up to her somehow."

Tsubasa glanced at the CCTV camera in the corner of the ceiling, and raised his eyebrows, "Have you checked the CCTV yet? Maybe you can find the real culprit from the footage."

Hayami nervously pressed his hands against each other while looking down, "That's what I've been telling you. No one else was here that night. I only saw _myself_ writing the article and published it. Isn't it crazy? It's as if I was hypnotized, like I was controlled by some sort of trickery or magic or-"

" _Puppeteer_ ," Tsubasa spitted the word and glared at the CCTV, as if blaming the harmless electronic for not doing it's job properly. "The Puppeteer. Do you think she was controlling you?"

Hayami gulped as he had thought of the possibility as well. Puppeteer was the Alice nickname of a certain Luna Koizumi, who was once a Quest member a few years ago. She quit after her first mission failed, and became a normal AA member instead. He knew Tsubasa didn't have the best relationship with the woman, and wouldn't doubt that he would be suspecting her in this case. "I'm honestly not sure. However, _if_ she was the culprit, the big question is, _why_? Why would she do it? Why spreading rumors about an innocent member under probation?"

Chuckling dryly was Tsubasa, who unconsciously clenched his hand as he remembered what the woman had done to his female best friend, "Why? Isn't it obvious? That woman is the true depiction of an evil queen. A powerful woman filled with jealousy, and cunning as a snake. I wouldn't be surprised if she was behind all this."

Hearing his words, Hayami felt slight chills running down his body. If Luna was the one controlling him, then sadly there was nothing he could do except taking the blame on him.

* * *

"You met Mikan at the Gala? _Really_?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes and placed her pincers down. She was working on a fun invention this time: a penguin robot, before the blond barged in her private lab to have a chat. "Do you want me to repeat that again?"

"I can't believe it. Do you think Natsume knew?" Ruka was still in disbelief. What are the odds that Mikan is part of the Elites too? Has destiny had been playing with them for the past few days?

The Animal-Pheromone Alice took a seat next on an empty chair next to Hotaru, and smiled when he saw the penguin-looking robot on her desk. _What an adorable looking creature._

Hotaru noticed his gentle expression, and stealthily took out her phone to capture the moment. She had been secretly editing and selling Ruka's pictures to a bunch of fan girls that he didn't even know he had. Most of them thought Ruka was a Japanese-Italian model named 'Luca', a name that Hotaru came up with because it was one of the most common Italian names out there, and rhymed perfectly like Ruka. The young woman acted as his publicist and used the pseudo-name 'Ice Queen' to post and sell his pictures online. She took advantage of the opportunity to not only generate a lot of money, but also give him the prank of his life.

Ruka gently touched the robot before focusing his gaze on the young woman. If only he knew that Hotaru was attending the JAP Gala a few days ago, he would've joined her in a heartbeat. "Maybe we should all go together to one of the Elites' events sometime. It will be fun."

The black haired woman scoffed as she opened a drawer filled with different sizes of nails, and grabbed a few smaller ones for the penguin robot's body, " _Fun_. I wonder if your friend Hyuuga would think the same way."

Unconsciously, Ruka rolled his eyes and his lips formed a smirk, "Oh, I'm sure he would oblige."

Hotaru raised one of his eyebrows, startled with the overly confident answer coming from him, " _Oh_? Is there anything that I should know about?"

The blond lad chuckled as he looked around the lab, as if not wanting anyone else to hear what he was going to say next, "Mikan and Natsume have been meeting each other lately. They'd make a good couple, don't you think?"

Hotaru went silent as she didn't want to break the bunny boy's romantic fantasies.

Obviously, he didn't know that Narumi had asked Natsume to take care of Mikan while she was under probation. The innocent lad must had been so delighted at the slightest chance that _the_ Natsume Hyuuga might be interested in dating a good girl, for once. His past love interests always turned into nightmares, especially his latest ex who couldn't seem to move on. Hotaru wouldn't be surprised if the she-devil still traumatized him until now.

In the end, however, the young woman faked a sweet smile and replied instead, "Sure, why wouldn't they make a good couple?"

* * *

Lunch time in Tanoshii Orphanage had always been chaotic yet enjoyable for everyone.

A total of twenty children would line up in the kitchen, from youngest to eldest, and they would gather in the living room area to dine together. The couches, tables, and chairs were pushed back against the wall, while the glass door leading to the veranda was opened to view the small yard in front of the three-stories house. Bushes of marigolds were peeking through the bushes, and a birdhouse swung lightly from the big pine tree branch at the corner of the yard.

Natsume Hyuuga arrived when lunch was just being served. He parked his shiny black E-Class Mercedes-Benz right across the building, and proceeded to walk towards the orphanage's gate that was already unlocked.

He had to admit that he wasn't expecting Mikan to be at an orphanage. At first, he offered her a ride to make sure no one bothers her when she arrives in the Academy. A lot of people are going to be there for the Assembly, and he would make sure to keep her close at all times. Looking at the building before him, Natsume recalled that Mikan mentioned she was part of her university's Philanthropy Club. However, he didn't know that she was also working there. He could hear the children's loud voices from outside, and started to feel slightly anxious.

Natsume was a lot of things; intelligent, royal, and handsome. But children had never been his area of expertise, especially when it comes to entertaining them.

Unlike Ruka who could pull his Alice to summon a cute animal such as bird, butterfly, or squirrel out of nowhere to gain the kids' interest, Natsume was rather rigid and slightly awkward. Now stepping inside the yard, he started to wonder why he even said yes to Mikan's offer and came at the first place.

Suddenly, a little boy around the age of five or six spotted him walking in, and Natsume unconsciously held his breath. The boy's expression changed from curiosity to surprise, then his eyes widen in terror.

 _Crap._

Before Natsume get to do anything, the boy was already yelling on top of his lungs, "Akane-san! Help! There's a stranger inside the yard! Stranger danger!"

The raven haired lad sighed and stopped on his tracks. _He should've known something like this would happen._

Natsume debated whether he should wait until an adult comes out to calm the little boy, or simply ignore the child's cry and continue walking towards the door. A few good seconds later, he saw a flash of long brown hair, olive plaid shirt, and black jeans. Mikan Yukihira appeared at the door and swiftly scooped the child in her arms.

 _His savior had arrived._

"It's okay, You-chan. This onii-san is my friend, and he's going to have lunch with us," Mikan said gently and the boy started to calm down. He obediently nodded, while keeping his eyes on Natsume with an unsure look.

With a big smile, Mikan waved and signaled her Alice partner to come inside. "I'm glad you can make it, Natsume. Welcome to Tanoshii Orphanage! We just finished preparing the bowls for lunch."

.

"Onii-san, you are _so_ tall! Even taller than Mikan-nee!"

Natsume couldn't help but let out the tiniest of smile when he saw the little girl's genuine reaction. He bent his knees so she didn't have to look up so much to meet his eyes, "That's because I ate a lot when I was your age, and I played basketball too."

The young girl in pigtails opened her mouth in wonder, then took his hands towards the kitchen area, "Then you should eat a lot today too, Onii-san! Mikan-nee's curry is _sooo_ good."

Somehow, the girl reminded him of Aoi when she was young, and Natsume quickly obliged to her request.

Mikan was serving the last few portions of curry, when she noticed that her friend was occupied with one of the most hyperactive girl in the orphanage.

She chuckled lightly as Natsume started to get a little flustered answering a million questions that the seven-year-old had for him. "Yuna-chan, have you introduced yourself to Onii-san yet?" Mikan asked while scooping rice from the rice cooker. She gave Natsume a wink, and the raven haired shot her a relieved look.

The young Yuna shook her head shyly, "Not yet, Mikan-nee," She looked at the adult with wide amber eyes and asked, "Onii-san, what is your name? My name is Yuna."

"Nice to meet you, Yuna-chan. My name is Natsume." The raven haired answered, and the girl struggled to repeat his name correctly, "N-na-tsu-m-me. Natsume-nii?"

Youichi was silently listening throughout the conversation, and asked out of the blue, "Is it okay if I call you Natsu-nii?"

A little unexpected, Natsume realized that it was the same boy who was screaming in the front yard earlier. "Of course, you can. What is your name, young man?"

The boy felt his cheeks grew warm as it was the first time someone put his name and the word 'man' in the same sentence. He was happy and embarrassed at the same time, but immediately looked away. "My name is Youichi. But people call me You-chan."

Natsume ruffled his hair lightly and said, "Nice to meet you, You-chan."

The little boy blushed and puffed his cheeks, causing Natsume to chuckle. Somehow, he felt like he just passed a test to gain the boy's approval.

.

Most of the children were sitting on the floor and laughing merrily with each other as they ate their lunch. The scene before Natsume was foreign in his eyes, as he never paid any visit to orphanages before. Some kids decided to play with their toys outside in the yard, and Natsume felt the urge to install a short basketball stand for them to play with.

Mikan slowly stood next to Natsume who hadn't touched his food yet. She had finally finished serving lunch for everyone, and decided to take a break and enjoy her meal. "So, Natsume, what do you think of the orphanage?"

The raven haired lad looked at her in surprise, as he didn't realize the brunette was standing there all along. "I think this is a very wonderful orphanage. The children look very happy, and Akane-san seemed like a really nice and responsible woman to run the institution."

Hearing his words made the brunette smile, and she silently observed how the man's posture had relaxed compared to the first time when he arrived. She noticed that the neckline of his gray sweater was slightly crooked because Yuna was pulling his clothes earlier. Instinctively, Mikan almost reached her hand out to fix his shirt, like she would with the kids. However, she realized what she was doing and stopped herself immediately.

 _Goodness, Mikan, that was close_.

She unconsciously blushed at the thought. How embarrassing would it be if that happened! She tried distracting herself and started stirring her food instead, "You should try the curry before it gets cold. It's one of the kids' favorites here."

Natsume looked at his bowl, then took a spoonful of rice and curry in his mouth. A smile appeared on his face for a split second before he said to her, "This is _really_ good. My respect for the chefs."

Beaming with pride, Mikan grinned as she watched him taking another bite, "Me and Akane-san had tried perfecting this recipe for months. I'm glad it was worth the effort."

.

After spending another hour in the Tanoshii Orphanage, it was time for the two Alices to start heading to the Academy.

Earlier, Natsume had offered to help wash the dishes, in which Akane insisted to refuse. The stubborn lad, however, would hear none of it. "It's the least thing that I could do to help," He politely said and the woman finally let him work alongside Mikan to clean the pile of dirty bowls and cutlery.

Youichi pouted as Mikan started bidding her goodbye to the children. The young boy tugged her shirt and asked in a sad voice, "Can't you stay a little longer, Mikan-nee?"

Mikan smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead instead, "I'll see you next week, You-chan. Let's make that bracelet together next week, promise?"

The brown haired boy smiled and nodded quickly, "Promise!"

He slowly averted his gaze to Natsume who was looking at his direction as well. Unexpectedly, the man with crimson eyes ruffled his hair and smirked, "I'll see you again, You-chan. Don't yell at me when I visit next time."

Youichi grinned as he watched the pair walked towards the gate, "I won't, Natsu-nii! Come again, okay!"

Slowly, Akane crept next to Mikan and whispered in her ears, in which made the brunette blush uncontrollably, "N-no we're not! We're just friends, nothing more, Akane-san, really!"

The middle aged woman placed her curls behind her ears, and rolled her eyes at Mikan with a knowing look, "We'll see about that, young lady. We shall see."

* * *

Tsubasa Andou was looking at the folder filled with documents about his next mission that night. It was a Level 0 Mission, and that could only mean one thing: Supervising Task to monitor Alices outside of the Academy.

He stopped in front of a door with a metallic frame label: "Gear Room". The door slid open to reveal a spacious room with shelves, cabinets, benches, and mirrors all around the walls. A few changing rooms were placed in one corner, complete with shower stalls and sinks. The racks were stacked with dark colored garments, ranging from sleeveless tanks to thick sweaters. They also had wetsuits, tuxedo blazers, and even ball gowns. On the bottom cabinets were a variety of shoes like sneakers, boots, oxford, and heels. All of the outfits were custom-made by a renowned fashion designer who also happened to be an Alice. That being said, the gears inside the room were able to fit every Quest member according to their different body shapes and sizes.

Proceeding to one of the shelves, Tsubasa grabbed a black hoodie and a pair of jogger pants. He picked a duffel bag from the bottom cabinet and stuffed the clothes inside. Looking at his watch, he realized that he still had plenty of time to kill before the Assembly starts.

"Hey Tsubasa! Let's use the simulation and train together!" A young woman suddenly jumped and hugged him from behind like a koala, and Tsubasa impulsively held her legs so she wouldn't fall down.

Misaki Harada laughed while Tsubasa gave her a glare, "How many times should I remind you that this habit of yours can be dangerous? What if I didn't catch you on time? We could both fall!"

The young woman rolled her eyes as she knew he'd lecture her sooner or later. He used to be more carefree in the past, until the day she got into _that_ serious accident. She was forced to stay in the hospital for weeks, and he started becoming extra protective of her since. "I know you'd never let me fall, Tsubasa. Especially with that Alice of yours. I trust you, you shadow-freak."

Tsubasa sighed and slowly placed her down on one of the benches, "How did you know I'm going to be here? Do you have a mission too?"

"Nope, I was heading to the Training Room when I saw you walked in here. Come on, let's use the Mission Simulation this time. I heard the Tech division just implemented the latest model to the system," Misaki took his hand and started to pull him to exit the room.

The young man smirked as he complied with her request and said, "Probably I'll score better than you, _again,_ Misaki."

With one fast movement, the red-haired woman smacked his head, an annoyed look was visible on her face, "I'm not gonna let that happen!"

Tsubasa laughed and swung his duffel bag behind his shoulder. She had always challenged him since the first day they met, which was exactly the reason why they ended up becoming the best of friends; or maybe, even more.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

This might be the longest chapter that I've written for this story! Wow, didn't realize I was typing so much until I stopped.

Anyway, I hope you adore Youichi as much as I do ~

As always, your thoughts and feedback are much appreciated!


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

The young woman sighed as she stared at the clock tower in the middle of Central Town.

That day, she was planning to surprise Mikan with a box of Howalon to mark the end of her probation period, which went extra smoothly thanks to Natsume's constant presence around her. Permy was planning to buy the delicacy by herself, until a certain young man contacted her out of nowhere and wanted to tag along.

So there she was, exactly at three o'clock, wondering why she had said yes to him in the first place. They were technically on talking terms anyway.

Permy stood in front of a bright two-stories building that was styled to look like a candy shop. It had striped wallpapers and salmon colored floor, and on the window was a cursive pink neon sign that read 'Howalon' to indicate that they were open. For the longest time, the store solely focused on selling Howalon, a fluffy cotton candy with cloud-like texture and mellow sweet taste. The confectionery was unique because it brings out each person's unique taste bud and create a delectable sensation when dissolving in their mouths. The invention gained so much popularity from customers, and quickly became one of Alice Academy's best-kept-secret item. Throughout the years, the shop evolved to a small cafe that also sells Howalon-based dessert and drinks.

Sumire Shouda brushed her loose perms behind her shoulders before stepping inside the store. A figure was occupying a corner table with Howalon Milkshake on the table. He looked up from his phone when Permy stepped in, a small smile was plastered on his face.

"It's great to see you, Perms," Koko stood and gave her a hug, in which she returned halfheartedly. He continued, "Thanks for taking the time to meet me."

Permy gave him a curt nod and sat on the chair across from him, "Don't sweat about it, Koko."

"Are you planning to stock up on some Howalon?" he asked before taking a sip of his half-emptied drink.

"I'm actually buying it for a friend. Mikan. Probably you've heard of her already," Permy replied as the waiter gave her a glass of water. She ordered a box of Howalon to go, in which the waiter quickly noted.

Koko nodded as he remembered the conversation with Natsume a few days ago, "I've heard of her. She's Natsume's partner, right? He told me that both of you are close."

Hearing his respond, Permy immediately rolled her eyes, "Did Natsume say that?" She didn't quite believe him. "Are you sure you weren't peeping into his thoughts instead?"

The dark-blond man looked down, his face looked hurt as he replied, "I told you I've changed, Perms. I really have."

Permy didn't respond to him. Instead, she simply stared at him as if telling him to give her a better explanation than the sorry excuse he just uttered.

Taking a deep breath, Koko explained, "We were at the gym that day. I asked him if he knew what Mikan's Alice is, and he looked surprised. After asking him if there's anything I should know about, he told me about the Alice Alert that you sent out. You and Mikan were attacked. I was hoping to meet you today and see if you're okay."

The young woman stayed silent, her green eyes were glued to his brown ones. Koko took that as a signal and continued, "I swear I didn't read his thoughts. Even though I really wanted to, I managed to stop myself, Perms. You can even ask Natsume if you don't believe me."

Permy sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She felt a little guilty for doubting him like that, but again, how can she not? He used to abuse his Alice in the past. The very reason why their relationship broke apart.

"Perms?"

The woman with dark green hair decided to drink her water and said, "Thank you for being worried for me, Koko. I will try to believe what you said. Did you _really_ not use your Alice on Natsume? Not even once?"

A little surprised, Koko stammered and answered as best as he could, "W-Well, I, I might have read his thoughts for a bit - - just a _tiny_ bit! The poor guy looked so terrible at first, and I-"

" _Koko_ ," Permy hissed as she emphasized her next words, "You said you've _changed_."

"I-I have, really," Koko squeaked as he forgot how intimidating the woman can be. "It's just hard to control my Alice sometimes. Especially when I'm curious."

Permy opened her mouth to give Koko a long ass-whooping mouthful, before she noticed a glistening metal behind his ears. She swore she never saw him wear that before. _Has he been hiding it from her?_ The woman's eyes never once averted from his as she tried to stay calm.

"Kokoro Yome, are you wearing an _A_ lice Restraint right now?"

The young man looked startled, as his hand unconsciously touched the golden cuff on his left ear. It was his turn to stay quiet. He stared at the floor nervously, and Permy continued, "How long has it been? Answer me, Koko."

Knowing that she wouldn't let this go, Koko cleared his throat and replied timidly, "Give or take...three years."

Permy immediately felt a headache was coming her way. _All these time._ He must be suffering, and she didn't even know.

"Is it painful?"

Hearing the concern in her voice made Koko's lips pursed into a gentle smile. He tapped his ear cuff again and said, "Nope. At least not anymore. I got used to it by now."

Permy sighed as she looked at the young man before her. He was a little taller from what she remembered, with broad shoulders and toned arms. He no longer looked sluggish as his dark blond hair was trimmed in a neat cut. He was no longer the naive and careless boy that she used to date in high school. And maybe, maybe he was right. Maybe he _had_ changed. Maybe things are different now. "I'm sorry I didn't know sooner. It must have been hard."

Koko stared at the woman for a few seconds. His brown eyes were filled with sadness. _If only she knew._ If only she knew that he only started wearing the Alice Restraint, after she ended their relationship.

He whispered loud enough for her to hear, "Not as hard as when you left, Perms."

* * *

Mission Bunker was one of the oldest buildings inside Alice Academy.

It had a total of 20 floors, with each floor serving different purposes for the Academy members. Typically, only those associated with Alice Academy's Missions have access to the building, such as Quest members and Staff Administrators. However, there were special cases where certain Alices have authority to access the building 24/7, such as Technical Division Alices who specialize in Research & Invention, as well as Alices who hold important roles within the Academy, such as Lead Committees for AA events or Press President of the Alice News.

Hayami Jinso pushed his thumb on the fingerprint scanner inside the elevator, and was granted access to head towards the Basement. He was planning to meet with Tsubasa before the Assembly starts, so his friend could give him one last round of pep-talk before he formally apologizes to Mikan Yukihira. _Boy was he nervous_. Of all people, the woman had to be Natsume Hyuuga's partner too. It was enough that Hotaru Imai blackmailed him often, he did _not_ want to make one of Alice Academy's best Quest members watch his every move either.

After walking through the long hallways, he finally stopped as he reached his destination. In front of him was a huge vault-like door, which was the entrance to Mission Bunker's Training Room. There was another scanner next to the door, for additional protection in preventing unauthorized folks from coming inside. He removed his glasses and placed his right eye across the screen. A red light beamed to scan his retina, and the machine beeped before the vault slid open.

The owner of both Hearing and Seeing Alices briskly stepped inside, unaware that there was a group of people conversing behind the doors. If only he had activated his Alices beforehand, he could've avoided the awkward situation that he was about to be in.

Misaki Harada saw him first, and waved her hand vigorously towards him, "Look, it's Hayami! What a perfect timing!"

Almost immediately, three other heads turned towards the Press President, making him gulp nervously. He glanced at the group who had different expression on their faces; Tsubasa looked a little antsy, Natsume gave him a cautious glare, and Mikan simply stared at him with a curious look.

Instead of thinking clearly, Hayami felt overwhelmed by his emotions and felt cold sweats were dripping on his forehead. He bowed his head to a ninety-degree angle and loudly confessed, "I'm so sorry, Yukihira-san! I-I swear I didn't mean it!"

The brunette looked confused, as she stared at her partner who only let out a deep sigh while looking at her direction. After a few seconds passed, she slowly asked the strange male with light gray hair carefully, "Uhm, how do I put this...Do I know you?"

.

Nastume couldn't believe that Mikan forgave Hayami so easily. The _baka_ accepted his apology and started acting friendly around him before he left. Natsume didn't like watching their conversation. _She wasn't as open to him when they first met_ , he internally noted. His petty side wanted to blame the whole Newsletter incident on Hayami, even though he knew the poor guy was technically also a victim.

"Look look, it's starting!" Mikan said as she clasped her hands together.

They were inside the control room to watch Tsubasa and Misaki train from a one-way mirror. The simulation area was created by a team of Illusion and Invention Alices, where trainees would be able to face virtual reality scenarios of their choosing from a hologram screen. The older duo had activated a Level 3 Combat simulation, where they would be fighting a number of attackers, but instead of using their Alices, they would be using a weapon of choice from the back of the room. From the shelves, Misaki grabbed a collapsible baton and threw it above her head, where it expanded to a six-feet-long rod before she swiftly caught it again. On the other hand, Tsubasa chose a _nunchaku_ and casually swung it as if he had done it many times before.

"Oh wow, they look so cool. They must be _really_ good," Mikan commented with excitement in her eyes. Her lips pursed into a giddy grin, as it was her first time watching martial arts so up close.

Natsume simply smirked when he saw her reaction. Obviously she didn't know that her partner held the highest simulation score among the Quest members so far.

Back in the simulation room, Tsubasa clicked on the hologram screen to start the training. Almost simultaneously, six silhouettes appeared around him and Misaki, each of them wearing black masks and wielded a long sword. Misaki suddenly swung her baton with such force towards one of the guys and knocked him down, earning a fascinated gasp from Mikan. One person down, and it was barely 15 seconds into the simulation!

"We call them Fuukitai," Natsume explained carefully as he pointed to the men in black, "Remember the people who attacked you last week? They were Fuukitai, and also sent by Zero, an anti-Alice organization."

Tsubasa and Misaki dodged the attacks and went almost into a routine, where they would first avoid the attacks before launching an unexpected hit to the enemy.

"Anti-Alice organization?" Mikan felt uncomfortable as she remembered the terrifying experience that she and Permy went through. "But some of them are also Alices themselves."

"Yes they are. They don't like the fact that Alices hide their powers from the world. They think they're better than non-Alices out there, and created an organization to oppose the Academy. Their goal is to overthrow Alice Academy so they can be in charge over the Alice Community," the raven haired answered with a grim look.

"So, are they like a rebellion group?"

"Exactly. They were established around fifteen years ago, and had been causing troubles for the Alice Community ever since."

The brunette squinted her eyebrows, and asked carefully, "Are they the reason why Quest members exist in the first place?"

Natsume paused, as he didn't expect Mikan to connect the dots so quickly, "Yes, and no. In the past, Quest members were basically scouts who look after Alice Community in general; especially Alices who decided to stayed 'underground' or unaffiliated with the Academy. Typically, when Alices are in danger of having their powers exposed to the public, Quest members would step in as it is their duty to prevent that from happening."

Mikan averted her eyes to the scene before her, where Tsubasa launched his _nunchaku_ towards one of the Fuukitai, and kicked another guy who was sneaking behind him. As she watched the fight, she carefully concluded, "So, when Zero first appeared, it became Quest members' responsibility to stop them. Isn't that right? That is why all of you are training so hard, so you can face them during Alice Combats, like this simulation."

The fire caster looked at her with a pleasantly surprised look. _This is why Narumi asked him to show her the Basement_. His lips forming a smirk, "You're pretty sharp, Mikan. Actually, you would make a decent Quest member as well. Once you control that Nullification Alice of yours, of course."

Her partner's words took Mikan by surprise, because she hadn't even decided whether she wanted to control the Academy yet, moreover controlling her Alice. On top of that, she never explicitly told anyone what her Alice was called. "How did you know that Nullification is the name of-"

"I looked it up," Natsume shrugged, "On that note, there was another person with the same Alice as yours in the past, but the detailed information was not disclosed in the database." Natsume clicked on a few buttons on the control panel, and a hologram screen appeared on the glass window, showing a list of Alices from the Academy's server.

"I wonder if any of my parents were Alices," Mikan said to herself, but Natsume caught that. He raised one of his eyebrows to clarify, " _Were_?"

Mikan gave him a somber smile, "They passed away when I was young."

The raven haired paused for a second, as he didn't know that Mikan grew up as an orphan. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Not your fault. My Grandpa took me in, and he is honestly the _best_ grandpa out there," Mikan smiled lightly as the image of her grandpa's wrinkled yet energetic face popped up in her head, "I still visit him every month since I moved to Tokyo. He lives in Katsuura, so it's not too far from here."

Even though Natsume had never been to Katsuura before, he always felt that the place sounded familiar. He used to ask his parents to visit the coastal city when he was younger, but they never obliged. Natsume's eyes widen as he came into this realization. In fact, Katsuura was the only place where his parents forbid him from visiting. _Was it a coincidence that Mikan used to live in Katsuura?_

"How about you, Natsume? Are your parents Alices?"

The man with crimson eyes blinked and slowly looked at his partner. There were so many odd coincidences that happened since he met Mikan Yukihira. He wondered if they actually meant anything, or if he should be concerned. "Yes, they are both Alices. My mom has the Memory Processing Alice, and my father has the Fire Alice. They used to be Academy members as well, but decided to stay inactive once they had me and my little sister."

"That sounds amazing, you're continuing their legacy then." The brunette smiled inwardly, as she wondered how children of Alices coped with their gifts when they were younger.

Natsume raised his eyebrow, as he never considered his heritage as something to be proud of. In fact, it had brought nothing but misery to him and his family. "Not really. I'm only finishing what they had started."

Mikan tilted her head as she noticed his tone changed. Cautiously, she decided to go with her guts and ask him, "Did your parents happen to be Quest members when Zero first appeared?"

The fire caster looked at his partner with bewildered eyes. _This girl was really something else._ She is sharper than she looked, and he wondered if perhaps she was hiding another Alice that can look into another person's past. "Yes they were." Initially a little hesitant, Natsume finally decided to tell her the whole truth, "We were actually one of the first casualties from the uprising as well."

The brunette went quiet. She didn't realize that Natsume had been so involved within the Alice politics since he was young. "Natsume, I-"

Before she finished her sentence, the door to the control room opened, revealing Tsubasa and Misaki who were bickering on who had higher score from the training earlier. Mikan's hazel eyes glanced at Natsume, who was clicking on the control panel's buttons to pull up the simulation result.

Observing him, she was curious to what could've happened to him and his family, but decided to stay quiet instead. One thing she realized that day, was that the incident with Zero's rebellion must had impacted Natsume so much, in a way that made him so determined to capture Zero members at any available opportunity.

It almost felt like he had a personal grudge against Zero, and wouldn't stop until he fulfilled his vengeance.

* * *

Narumi tried his best to control his emotions in front of the snobby young woman before him.

He had asked her to come to his office after the Assembly was over, because over the last few days, he had received enough evidence from witnesses who saw her activating her Alice to start a ruckus within the Academy. Unfortunately, the young lady didn't seem to have a problem with admitting her wrongdoing in the most innocent way possible.

Luna Koizumi looked bored as she explained, "It started off as a joke, really. I didn't _actually_ want to hurt her, you know. After all, she was merely a newbie here. I _totally_ didn't expect Hayami to write that kind of article in the first place."

The middle-aged man felt his patience was ticking, but realized he should maintain his composure still, "Luna-san, the Board of Alices wouldn't let this slip so easily. Your careless action had caused quite a trouble not only within Alice Academy, but also within the Alice _Community_. Accusing Mikan to be associated with Z was nothing to be taken light of, and-"

"And my father will take care of it. I'm sure the Board of Alices would listen to what Ruben Koizumi had to say," The young woman smiled as she continued. "He had been one of Academy's biggest sponsors for the past few years. I recalled he donated another building last month? I'm sure he can vouch for my innocence in front of the Board of Alices."

The young woman looked on her phone, then gave the teacher a satisfied look, "I believe we are done talking here, Sensei. My chauffeur is picking me up in the lobby, as I have an important dinner to attend with the France Embassy tonight. If you don't have anything else to say, I will be taking my leave."

A little speechless, Narumi Anju knew he couldn't argue with her once she brought up her father's influence within the Academy grounds. Before he had the chance to reply, the door to his office opened to reveal exactly the person whom they were referring to earlier.

"Hi, Narumi-Sensei! How are you doing-" Mikan stopped talking as soon as she saw another figure inside his office, "Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners. I can come back later-"

"No need for that, Mikan-san. I am about to leave anyway." The figure stood up from her seat, revealing her face to the brunette.

Mikan felt as if her eyes were deceiving her, as she never expected to see her inside the Academy grounds. _What was she doing here?_ Mikan had never imagined that the president of Elites would also turn out to be an Alice. Seeing her wear Diane von Furstenberg dress with a Hermes Licol bag in hand, however, confirmed her identity.

"Luna Koizumi?"

The door to Narumi's office squeaked, as Natsume pushed it open and stepped inside the room. He couldn't believe he heard the particular female's name coming out of Mikan's lips.

Seeing his figure, the strawberry blonde let out a wide smile, showing her perfect pearly whites, "Natsume-kun! What a coincidence." She glanced at the brunette next to him in realization, and rolled her eyes, " _Or not_. You must be here because you have been acting as her personal bodyguard lately."

"What are you doing here, Luna?" He asked almost with a harsh voice, and Mikan sensed that they must had some sort of bad history.

"I'm here because Narumi-sensei asked me to, silly," The smile never left Luna's face, as she stared at Mikan dead in the eyes, "Funny story, he found out that _I_ was the one behind the Newsletter incident."

Mikan felt her face turned red, while a series of emotions ran through her head. She couldn't be serious, could she?

"Y-you're joking, right, Luna-san?"

Luna chuckled as she flicked her long wavy hair, "What's with the honorific? Just call me Luna, darling. And no, it is not a joke."

The brunette looked at her with disbelief, as this seemingly 'perfect' woman seemed to hate her without any good reason, _and_ without any single drop of remorse either. "But why?"

"Well, let's just say I was actually using you to gain Natsume's attention. He had been ignoring me for the longest time, you see." Luna winked as she stood in front of the young man. "Do I have your attention now, Natsume-kun?"

Mikan could swear her jaw dropped as soon as Luna finished talking. _This lady had definitely lost it._ The brunette was utterly lost for words as she stared at Luna Koizumi as if she came from another planet. This woman is not normal. She made her life extremely hard for the past week, _just_ to get attention from a guy?! And she didn't even feel guilty, not even at the _slightest_.

Narumi decided to turn a blind eye, as he used his Pheromone Alice to watch the fire caster's aura change. The blond man had prepared for the worst case scenario, and was ready to activate his Alice if needed.

"Yes, you have my attention now," Natsume said in a calm voice. He was also surprised that he was able to control his emotions so far. "You have gone too far this time, Luna. Being a member in the Alice Academy is not a game. And being a Quest member," he paused as his eyes turned darker, "Is also _not_ a game."

The strawberry blonde winced, as she knew his remark was personally directed to her, "Ouch. No need to rub in the past now. I only signed up to be a Quest member so I could get close to you, Natsume. I didn't know that I would risk breaking my nail in the process." Looking at Mikan, she gave her a grin, "I would advise you against it too, dear. Alice Mission is not a place for Elite women like us."

Natsume glanced at Mikan with a confused look, "Is Mikan also part of Elites?"

Luna scoffed as she walked between the duo, her shoulders brushed theirs lightly, "Oh honey, don't tell me you don't know that her family was once one of the most influential Elites in Japan. Too bad they lost all of that when her parents died."

The blond man in the room tried to look composed, however his eyes didn't once avert from Mikan's pale face. He wondered if she knew _anything_ about her parent's legacy as both Elite and Alice Academy members.

Looking at their dumbfounded looks, Luna giggled as she exited the room, "I guess I'll be seeing you two around more often then. Ciao!"

The room immediately went to a silence, as both Natsume and Narumi looked at Mikan, who was staring at the door with a blank look.

Narumi decided to break the ice, and cheerfully said, "A-anyway, congratulations, Mikan! You had passed the probation period! You can officially be a member of Alice Academy!"

.

.

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* * *

 **A/N**

Whelp! Sorry it's a few days late, this chapter took longer than I thought it would! Hopefully you enjoyed this one, and let me know if you have any feedback (story line, grammar, etc.)

For any of Luna's fans out there, I'm sorry for making her sound like a basic bimbo... I just couldn't help but envision her like that...

And last, thank you for reading and showing your support towards the story so far! I'm glad that many people actually took the time to read GA fanfics still :)


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"This is a contract, for you to be a member of Alice Academy."

Mikan held the thick document in her hands, her amber eyes scanned through the pages nervously. Her partner was sitting next to her, eyeing her intensely as if she would run away.

"You are not to speak a word about Alice to the people outside of these walls, especially non-Alices. This is the cardinal rule of being an Alice. There are a couple other minor rules to abide, however they are quite simple, such as no vandalizing Alice Academy's property and so on," Narumi explained as the young woman started reading the clauses carefully.

"This contract also says that I can always quit from Alice Academy anytime I want?"

The blond teacher smiled, and handed Mikan a pen to sign the contract, "You are correct. However, no one has quit the Academy for a long time due to it's lax policy towards the members. You can compare it to being enrolled in an honorary organization in college, you wouldn't even realize you were a part of them."

Natsume quietly listened to their conversation, as he could still remember the day he first met Narumi. It seemed that the teacher hasn't really changed since.

After a few seconds passed, the brunette took a deep breath, and signed her name on the paper, "I guess this is it."

She slowly placed the pen on the table, and unconsciously looked towards Natsume, who gave her an encouraging nod and mouthed, "Congrats."

Narumi took back the paper, and swiftly placed it inside a folder, "This will go into the Academy Archives." With a big smile, he extended his arm and said, "Congratulations Mikan, you are now part of the family!"

.

Mikan could feel the cotton candy skies were gleaming that day. It was encouraging her to say what was on her mind.

She pulled all the adrenaline in her body to boldly ask, "Sensei, how do I become a Quest member?"

Two pair of eyes immediately stared at hers. She hadn't told anyone what was on her mind, so it was no surprise that both Natsume and Narumi looked flabbergasted.

"I-I kind of want to try to be part of Quest. Am I allowed to?"

Natsume knew what Narumi was thinking, and why he went pale.

There is no rule in the Academy that says members cannot join the Quest. However, they do have to go through an intense 6 months-training session, that will prepare them for whatever obstacles might come during their mission.

Nevertheless, usually new members wouldn't sign up for Quest right after they officially joined Alice Academy. No one had done so before. No one except for a young boy with crimson eyes, twelve years ago, who had witnessed the dark side of Alices with his own eyes, and wanted nothing but revenge.

"Are you sure, Mikan? You know it's not going to be easy."

The brunette looked nervous, however nodded with a determined look in her eyes, "Yes, I'm a hundred percent sure."

Natsume noticed that Mikan was slightly trembling. It seemed that she knew that being a Quest member, or going on missions, were completely outside of her element.

He couldn't help but wonder, what made her want to join so bad?

* * *

Hotaru could vaguely hear the music and conversation behind the white wooden door.

She rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later, Permy appeared with a smile on her face, "Welcome to our humble abode! Glad you can make it despite of the last minute notice."

"I wouldn't miss it," the black haired woman simply said as she stepped inside the medium-sized apartment, taking off her ankle boots in the progress, "Where's Mikan?"

"Yeah, about that..." Permy's eyes trailed off to the kitchen where the stereo was playing loud R&B music. A brunette was sitting on the marble counter, while Koko and Anna next to her were laughing on her joke. On the other side of the room, Natsume and Ruka were sitting on the couch and each holding a red plastic cup. An empty bottle of sake, half-emptied bottle of Jameson, and an array of beer bottles and chips were seen on the coffee table.

Hotaru raised her eyebrow as she unbuttoned her flannel shirt, revealing a white tank inside, "I see that the party already started."

Taking a deep breath, Permy gave the young woman a little insight of what had happened earlier, "Short story, Mikan had a long day."

"It is only her first day as a member and she's already tired. Huh."

"She also met Luna Koizumi. Do you remember her? Tall, ironically pretty, strawberry blonde hair. Natsume's crazy ex-girlfriend, who won the bitchy-attitude-award of the year. Apparently, she was the person behind the rumors that Mikan is part of Zero."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, maybe you're not surprised, but I assure you, Mikan was _horrified_. She was able to hold her composure though, at least until we got home and cursed her to the end of time."

"Of course she did."

"First thing she did after walking through that door, was chugging cheap ¥1,500 sake from the bottle, _which is now empty_ , mind you. She also pulled out a couple bottles of alcohol from underneath her bed, saying that she had saved them exactly for days like today."

Upon hearing that, Hotaru bit back a smile and started walking towards the kitchen counter, "I didn't expect her to be a strong drinker."

The green haired woman sighed in exasperation, "She is not really-"

"Hotaru! Oh my God, you're here!" Mikan spotted the short haired woman, and have her a tight hug as soon as she stepped inside the kitchen. A big grin was plastered on the brunette's slightly red face, and her long brown hair was tied in a ponytail, "I'm so happy to see you!"

With a calm demeanor, Hotaru returned the hug and replied with the slightest hint of smile, "Congratulations, Mikan. I'm glad you can join us in the Academy."

"Aww, thank you, I'm really excited!" The brunette exclaimed as she swiftly grabbed a plastic cup that was already filled with clear liquid that obviously wasn't water, and handed it over to her guest, "Sorry, we're pretty much broke and don't have any fancy glasses around, but here you go, your drink!"

Hotaru took the cup and clinked it with Mikan's, "Cheers."

Seeing her flatmate took more swigs of the alcohol, Permy simply sighed and said to herself, "This is going to be a long night."

Anna gave her a sympathetic smile before whispering, "I can help you make a hangover soup tomorrow."

"I'll help cleanup too, don't worry," Koko chimed in and stood next to her.

Watching Koko staring at the green haired woman, Hotaru raised one of her eyebrows and said instead, "I think you're wrong, Permy. This going to be a _very_ interesting night."

.

Ruka's eyes were following a certain dark haired woman with amethyst eyes as soon as she stepped inside the apartment. He was so ready to go up and talk to her, however being a good friend that he was, the blond decided to stay on the couch with his best friend, who had a grim look on his face.

A lot of people have different reactions to alcohol. Ruka was definitely the typical red-cheeks with slurred speech kind of guy. On the other hand, Natsume became melancholic and _emotional_ from time to time. Unfortunately, that day was no exception.

"Still pissed?"

Natsume glared at him and took another sip of his whiskey, "Not any better."

The blond laughed and took a few chips from the table. They were discussing what happened earlier with Luna, which definitely worsen Natsume's mood by the second, "Well, I _did_ try warning you about Luna when you were still dating-"

"After it was too late, yes. I didn't realize there were a few loose screws on that woman's head," Natsume said with a snarky attitude, before he leaned back and tried to stay calm, "I thought I was done with her. Of course, I was proven wrong. What would you have done differently?"

Ruka held his chin thoughtfully and said, "I would've grabbed a tracker chip from the Mission Bunker, and injected it on her. Just like that, _voila!_ You'll know where she would be at all times and avoid her before she could find you."

The raven haired grunted, "I'm being serious."

"I'm also serious, you know how persistent that woman is," Ruka shrugged and drank more Jameson from his cup. He was getting more dizzy, but he simply didn't care. "How's it going with Mikan?"

Natsume only raised one of his eyebrows, while Ruka shot him a grin, "I assumed you're courting her, correct? You've never left her side this whole week."

"Only because she's under probation. _And_ ," he paused hesitantly and continued, "Narumi asked me to take care of her." He wondered if she had told anyone else that she was planning to be a Quest member.

The blond simply shook his head and said, "That just can't be it. I'm _sure_ you fancy her, at least a little. I can see the signs, Nat, I'm your best friend."

Natsume stayed quiet while Ruka stood up and head over to the kitchen. He wondered if what Ruka said was true, or if he was simply sprouting nonsense from the alcohol talking. Not long after however, the crimson eyed lad decided to get fresh air and started walking towards the balcony.

.

"I was surprised when you invited Koko along," Anna stated while dipping a tortilla chip into the homemade artichoke dip that she brought earlier.

Across from her was Permy, who simply scoffed as she took a sip of a bottled beer and stretched her feet on the carpet.

Mikan was still alive and chirping in the kitchen counter. She got along well with Ruka, who was already really, _really_ , red at this point. Hotaru subtly took out a small camera from her studded MCM backpack and smirked as she took a couple pictures of the blond; something that Permy had noticed for a while.

In the balcony were Natsume and Koko, whose cigarette packs had been confiscated by her. Their apartment has a strict no-smoking policy. Besides, Mikan also hated the smell of cigars and would most likely be furious if she found out people were smoking in their apartment.

"Honestly, it wasn't my intention too. He was there when Mikan told me she accepted the offer to be a member," Permy explained, "Automatically he was invited when Mikan said she wanted to throw a little celebration party, aka an excuse for her to drink til' she drops."

Anna smiled for a brief moment before commenting, "I would never peg her as someone who likes to drink to be honest. She looks too innocent."

"And so are you _,_ " Permy snorted and passed her beer bottle to Anna, who laughed and gladly drank the liquid.

Suddenly, a question popped up in her head, and Permy decided to ask her friend for an answer, "Anna, do you know that Koko's been wearing an Alice Restraint for a while?"

The pinkette lowered her bottle and stared at her friend quietly. She was debating whether she should tell her the truth, but her expression gave it away. Permy obviously noticed and simply took a deep breath.

"You knew, huh? I wonder how I never noticed."

"He asked us to keep it away from you, so you wouldn't need to worry about him."

The shape-shifter sighed as she glanced at the balcony, where the said man was casually conversing with a certain raven haired. "He was right. Now that I found out, I'm actually worried about him."

"Don't be. He's a big boy, Permy, he can handle his own problems. After all, he believed the Restraint would help him control his Alice more, and it did. He also had Natsume to help him get used to it at the beginning," Anna said with a reassuring voice.

Permy shifted her jade eyes at the fire caster, as her brain played a short flashback from her memories.

She remembered having a silly crush on Natsume when they were younger, when he was very different from he is now. When he first came to the Academy, he was known as the boy who burned his whole house to dust because he lost control of his Alice. No one really knew whether the rumor was true, but soon enough he started wearing multiple Alice Restraints, and people were scared whenever he was around. The only person who stayed by his side was Ruka, who of course became his best friend since.

When Permy first joined Quest, she often teamed with Koko and Natsume to take on missions together. Lo and behold, she fell for Koko's charms and realized that her feelings towards Natsume were purely admiration, instead of affection. She dated the mind reader for a few good years, before she called it off when he abused his Alice to constantly read her thoughts.

After a while, Koko decided to quit from being a Quest member, and she barely saw him around anymore. Somehow, Permy had a feeling that _she_ was one of the main reasons why Koko decided to wear the Alice Restraint. However, she was honestly too scared to find out the truth.

Instead, she looked at the mind reader's back and whispered slowly, "I'm glad he wasn't alone when he had to go through that."

* * *

A man with dark hair and fair complexion was looking at the lights from the cars below. He was at the top floor of a high rise building, and the Tokyo skyline at night was before him. His business suit was firmly pressed, as he quietly observed the view from his tall chair. Suddenly, the door to his office was opened, and a redhead with white tank and ripped jeans stepped in.

Turning his seat around, the man greeted his underling with a smile, "Reo-kun. I thought you would be occupied with work all day. Your new album is coming out soon, right?"

Reo scoffed as he recalled what happened that made him visit the HQ late at this hour. A certain woman gave him a call with urgency in her voice, and convinced him to break the news to their boss as soon as possible. Even though slightly annoyed, he obliged anyway since he owed her a lot of favors. After all, she had been a huge help to him when he first started debuting as a singer.

"Boss, I have news from the Princess," he said while handing the man with a white envelope, "She said you would be interested to see this."

The man took out a single photograph from the envelope, and his hand immediately paused midair, "Impossible. Where did she get it from?"

Seeing the change in his boss' expression, Reo immediately concluded that the woman in the picture must be no ordinary person. _Damn it, that Princess must not have told him the whole truth._ "The Alice Academy, sir. Apparently she is a new member there, and also the Black Cat's partner."

Unexpectedly, the man chuckled and said, "What an interesting turn of event. Can you please call Senshi for me? I have a new assignment for him."

Reo simply nodded, and was about to turn to the door when the man asked, "One more thing, Reo-kun, what is her name?"

"She goes by Mikan. Her full name is Mikan-"

"Yukihira," the man completed the sentence and placed the picture slowly on his desk, "I'm looking forward to the day I meet her."

It sounded like his boss must have heard of her family before, and the redhead couldn't help but ask, "How do you know that name, sir?"

In a brief moment, the temperature in the room dropped as a blue stone gleamed from the man's pocket. He pursed his lips upwards to form a thin smirk.

"Let's say, that particular _lineage_ owed me something. And I'm finally going to collect the payment. "

* * *

Mikan was about to grab a phone charger from her bedroom, when she spotted her partner sitting alone on the couch, staring at chips on the table with a troubled look. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed an opened bottle of sake and plopped herself next to him. "Why the long face, Natsume? You're always so serious."

The raven haired blinked as he watched the energetic woman poured a generous amount of the liquid into two red cups.

"Here, drink up! Let's celebrate, we are _officially_ partners now!" Mikan giggled and handed him his portion.

Natsume watched her gulp a good portion of the drink and her face was slowly getting redder.

"How many drinks have you had?"

"A lot, but not enough!"

Hearing her respond, Natsume sighed before taking a gulp from his drink as well. _Screw it, he need to de-stress too._

"Just be careful, don't drink too much."

"B-but I'm at home! This is the safest place for me to drink to my heart's content!"

The raven haired could tell that she was definitely intoxicated. The only thing was, he didn't know how bad. Mikan, however, was ready to launch a full on rant to him and said, "Besides, it's your fault too, Natsume! Your ex was so mean to me, you know. She always looked so beautiful and perfect, but she was actually a meanie on the inside."

Natsume found this direct and sassy side of her amusing, however simply nodded in agreement to what she was saying, "You're right. She definitely has problems, that one."

The brunette pouted and crossed her arms, "Obviously you two should have a long ass talk and resolve whatever problems you had."

"I didn't know she was behind all this, I'm sorry," Natsume said before adding, "Guess it's been pretty difficult being my partner, huh."

Mikan sighed as she didn't like how Natsume always blamed himself on everything. With a firm tone, she looked at him in the eyes and replied, "Stop saying things like that, I didn't mean it, okay, it's _not_ your fault. Stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders! At least you have me _now_ , don't you?"

The raven haired went quiet as there was truth in her words. Perhaps, his instinct when they first met was right. She really was going to make a difference in his life.

Before he was able to respond, Mikan sank deeper into the couch and laid her head on the cushion, "Ugh, I'm so sleepy..." Her brown hair was messy and loose from the ponytail, covering half of her face as she slowly closed her eyes and mumbled, "Thanks...for not letting anyone know that I wanted to join Quest. You're a great guy, Natsume."

Natsume simply smirked as the woman never ceased to surprise him. She turned from a ball of energy into a sleeping log in just a matter of seconds. _Of course_.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm glad I have you, Mikan."

The brunette slowly curled herself and hugged one of the pillows tightly. Impulsively, Natsume stood up and draped a thin blanket over her body and said, "Don't worry, I know you'd do great as a Quest member."

Little did they know, that a couple feet away, a certain black haired woman was able to capture the tender scene with her camera, and a small smile pursed on her lips.

"Seems like bunny boy was right after all."

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

Another one (finally)! Thanks for bearing with me and for those who patiently waited for an update.

I hope you like the whole college-y scene, and maybe can relate to some of them too. Nothing crazy happened...this time ;) Side note, drink responsibly folks!

Anyway, things are going to turn around so quickly in the next chapter (which I'm really excited about), so stay tuned in 2 weeks time ~


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

 _three months later..._

* * *

 _._

Natsume parked his car in front of Kyosei High School, a well known all-girls-school in Japan, where the students continuously excel academically during the yearly national exams. The windows of his car were slightly tinted, and nearby pedestrians could see his figure from the outside. He was wearing a navy crewneck sweater, dark Burberry jacket, and pair of gray jeans - a typical Natsume Hyuuga outfit during a cold yet bright Saturday morning.

From the school gate, a teenage girl with straight black hair that hung above her shoulders was seen walking out of the school gate with her volleyball teammates. They just finished their practice and were about to head out. The girl's crimson eyes twinkled as she spotted her brother's car, and quickly bid goodbye to her teammates. Instinctively, her peers squealed when they noticed the shiny black Mercedes Benz C-Class in front of their school gate - in particularly because of the handsome driver behind the wheels.

Aoi Hyuuga rolled her eyes knowingly when her friends squealed loudly as she stepped into the passenger seat, a grin plastered on her face, "Oh wow, Nii-san, you sure are popular as always." She placed her backpack in the backseat, strapped her seat belt, and looked at the young man in the eyes, "At least ten girls befriended me this year so they could have a chance to meet you in person. Not that I'm complaining."

Natsume chuckled and started the car engine, "You're welcome. Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of little kids."

"Sixteen-year-olds are _not_ little kids!"

"Sure. You should stop bothering me to buy you and your friends beer then," the raven haired man simply smirked, while Aoi pouted in dismay.

They began to drive towards the highway that will lead them to Funabashi, a city located 30-minutes drive away from Tokyo, where the Hyuuga Mansion was. Both of the Hyuuga siblings used to live there with their parents until they went to school in Tokyo. For the past few years, they had been visiting their parents at least once every two months to keep in touch.

"How's the new dorm? I heard you moved to a newer establishment. No more broken showers?"

Aoi's eyes widen in terror as she remembered walking to a different dorm building with half-shampooed hair and thin towel draped over her soapy body, just in order to find running water so she could finish washing herself.

"Thank goodness, yes, I moved to a new building earlier this month. I hope there will be no more issues with running water there. Like e _ver_." She shivered and shook her head lightly.

"Good. You know you can always stay at my place if you ever need to."

"Thanks Nii-san, but no thanks. It takes three buses to get me to your studio apartment, I'm too lazy for that," replied Aoi, before she noticed a tiny window of opportunity to tease him at that exact moment, "Besides, what if I run into Mikan-nee there?"

Natsume almost hit the brake when hearing her blunt remark. However, he managed to get things under control and shot her a glare in return. His cheeks were getting warmer at the thought, as he tried to stay composed in front of her, "Nonsense. I told you there's nothing going on between us."

Hearing his respond, Aoi giggled even louder. She had met Mikan a couple times at Alice Academy, and completely _loved_ her. Mikan had such a kind and friendly personality, that made her feel attracted to her for some reason. One thing she gradually learned to notice, was that her older brother was very protective over Mikan too. "So, are you saying that she _never_ visited your studio, like ever?"

The raven haired man sighed, as he knew his annoying sister wouldn't stop teasing him during the whole car ride if he told her the truth. Mikan had visited once because he needed to grab something from the apartment before their training. In the end, Natsume simply told a white lie with perfect facade plastered on his face, "Yes, she's never been there. Happy?"

.

Ioran Hyuuga walked towards the Juliet window inside the house, where a woman was staring at the back garden that was slowly losing colors due to the cold weather. He slowly held her shoulder and said, "I knew I'd find you here."

The woman looked up, her crimson eyes met his golden, and replied, "I can't believe it's almost winter again. We should throw a little Christmas celebration with the kids."

"A little too early to plan that, don't you think?" Ioran smiled as he held the handles on her wheelchair. She had been paralyzed for a little more than 12 years now, and he had personally taken additional measures to care for her more. Slowly, he pushed the wheelchair gently towards the dining room.

A few house maids were setting up a set of porcelain tableware and embroidered tablecloth on the oak table. In the middle was a homemade Japanese food feast that the family chef had prepared, in which ranging from curry, _o_ _murice_ , _s_ _oba_ , to dessert such as castella and strawberry cake; all were Natsume and Aoi's favorite food.

Kaoru looked at the dining table with a somber look and said, "If only I could prepare these meals by myself. Do you know that it brings joy for mothers to cook for their children?"

"My dear, your children would want you to follow the doctor's advise. Don't be too hard on yourself, I noticed you've been having trouble falling asleep at night as well. Mind sharing what's been on your mind lately?"

The woman sighed as she shifted her gaze to her husband, "I'm...worried for the future."

Ioran's gaze soften when he noticed how she bit her lower lips when she was nervous, "Are you referring to Natsume and Mikan's future?"

"Sooner or later, those two would find out the truth. I don't know what would happen when...What if I made the wrong decision years ago? What if it was a mistake to -"

"The past is in the past, my love. They would understand the reason behind your actions. Above all, aren't you glad that our son was partnered with Mikan-chan in the end? It seems that we could never stop the strings of fate from connecting them together after all. It would've made Yuka and Izumi happy, I'm sure," the man said in a soothing voice that made the woman let out a small sad smile.

"I really hope that's the case, dear. I really hope so with all my heart."

* * *

Inside the Mission Bunker, two young women were training inside the Simulation Room. Their hair were in ponytails, and they wore long black leggings and black sleeveless top.

Misaki Harada closed her eyes, and simultaneously ten of her doppelgangers appeared. In front of her was her mentee, Mikan, who simply opened her mouth in astonishment when she watched the pinkette's Alice in action. The ten doppelgangers winked at her as Mikan stared at them with slightly agape mouth.

"This is so amazing, I still can't get over how amazing your Alice is, senpai!" the brunette tried touching one of the doppelgangers' arm and confirmed that they were _real_ and not illusion.

"I'm flattered, thank you. Unfortunately, your task today is to fight _us_ , and try to steal this token by using all means possible, " Misaki grinned as she showed her a small metallic golden star that floated on her palm. "The inventor of this star was obsessed with the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter, and decided to create a toned-down version of it using Alice Academy's star form. Don't worry though, unlike the Snitch, it can't fly on it's own."

Mikan nodded obediently before looking at the timer that was floating near the ceiling. She only had exactly 3 minutes to get the golden star from Misaki, or else her 'mission' fails.

"Don't hesitate to attack me, Mikan. Remember, use _all_ means possible. This is why we have Healing Alice Stones as our first aid kit."

The brunette glanced at the clear Alice Stone around her neck. She had been wearing it since the first day she stepped inside the Academy. It was Natsume's, but he told her she could keep it instead. A welcoming present, he said.

"Are you ready?"

Mikan tried focusing her eyes on the golden star that was floating on Misaki's palm and answered, "Ready!"

"Okay, let's go!" Misaki snapped her finger, and the timer began the countdown. In an instant, each of Misaki's dopplegangers held out the similar golden star and Mikan gasped, "Not fair!"

Impulsively, the brunette reached out to the original Misaki to grab the star, but her doppelgangers blocked her movement in return. They pushed her back and she fell on the ground with a loud thud.

"Senpai, that's cheating! I didn't know you were going to duplicate the token too!"

One of the Misakis giggled and said, "Remember Mikan, use all means possible!"

Mikan knew she had to come up with a strategy soon. She couldn't differentiate which one was the real Misaki, and her combat skills were nowhere near her either. Fighting her mentor directly would be useless at this point. Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked towards the group of doppelgangers, and glanced at the timer.

 _2:15_. _She needed to move fast_.

Mikan focused her eyes on the group of pinkettes before her, and curled her fingers to form a fist. She had practiced _this_ many times before, and knew that it was the only way she could take her mentor down. Slowly, she tried imagining a ball of energy gathered in her palms, and slowly released it into the room. A wave of blue light lightly emerged from her body, and Misaki's doppelgangers disappeared.

 _1:35_

The brunette immediately sprinted towards the Doppelganger Alice, who look surprised when she realized she could no longer activate her Alice. Misaki lifted her fists to anticipate Mikan's attack, but her mentee decided to duck and swipe her right foot instead, causing her to lose balance and fell to the floor.

Mikan knew this was her one and only chance. She immediately locked Misaki's arm from behind, a move that had been taught by the Aikido Black Belt herself.

 _0:45_

After a few seconds, Misaki groaned in pain and released her grip on the golden star, in which Mikan wasted no time to capture. The brunette stood up, her breath was heavy as her energy was drained from releasing her Alice. She glanced at the timer slowly.

 _0:35_

Mikan widen her hazel eyes in pure excitement.

 _She did it._

.

"Congratulations, Mikan! I knew you could do it," Tsubasa exclaimed cheerfully as he hugged her _kouhai_ and lifted her off of the ground.

Mikan laughed and waved the golden star, "I can't believe I did it! Did you see the control on my Alice improved?"

"Kiddo, you were amazing. I swear I wasn't going easy on you." Misaki smiled and pointed on her right shoulder, "And that armlock was great, I am very proud of you."

Tsubasa handed the pinkette a Healing Alice Stone from his pocket after saying, "That means the armlock must've really hurt too. Here you go, Misaki."

" _So_ _clutch_ , Tsubasa, thanks!" Misaki took the stone and it slowly gleamed inside her palms, healing her sore shoulder.

The brunette watched her mentors sheepishly. She had noticed the chemistry between the two ever since she started training with them. Tsubasa and Misaki were assigned to mentor her in becoming a Quest member - in addition of Natsume, of course, who automatically became responsible for her because he was her partner.

Initially, she wanted Permy to help her train as well. Being her best friend, Permy freaked out at the thought of Mikan joining Quest at first, but nonetheless supported her decision in the end. Narumi-sensei, however, mentioned that Mikan's ability type was categorized under the Special Division, and therefore the duo of Shadow-Manipulation and Doppelganger Alices were better suited as her mentors. And he was right.

"I'm sorry I hurt her, Tsubasa-senpai," Mikan said in an innocent voice, while Tsubasa simply tilted his head in confusion.

"Eh? Why do you apologize to me?"

On the other hand, Misaki rolled her eyes as she knew what Mikan was trying to do, "Cut it out kid, you don't want me to get started on that Alice Stone around your neck."

Almost immediately, Mikan paled as her mentor knew about the Healing Alice Stone that Natsume gave her, and nervously laughed, "H-haha, y-yeah, never mind, just ignore what I said."

The trio went to the Training Room area to start gathering their belongings, as their training session had ended in success.

Mikan glanced at her phone and decided to send a quick text message to her partner: _'I did it!'_ She inwardly smiled as she couldn't wait to tell him the good news in person.

"We should celebrate! You know what this means, right?" Misaki put one arm around Tsubasa, and the other around Mikan's shoulder. The brunette nodded and grinned widely.

"This means, I can join you guys on your Level 1 Mission tomorrow!"

* * *

"Oh my gosh, nothing beats Roku-san's _omurice,_ I missed this _so_ much!" Aoi exclaimed as she took another spoonful from her plate. "I wish Roku-san could cook for our school. Dorm food sucks, all we had every day were rice and miso soup."

Ioran laughed and placed a grilled chicken skewer on his daughter's plate, "Then you should eat as much as you can while you're here, Aoi."

"Trust me, dad, I will!"

Natsume simply shook his head seeing her behavior, as he took a bite of curry from his plate. He noticed his mother was watching them eat with a contented look on her face.

"You should eat too, mom. How are you? Did the doctors switch your medication? What did they say?"

The older woman smiled at her son who was so caring towards her as always. She took a piece of shrimp _tempura_ from the platter and dipped the edge slowly into the thin sauce, "It worked wonders, really. I barely got any headache compared to the previous side effects."

" _Also_ , they said she should refrain from using her Alice in the next couple of months," Ioran added and immediately received a glare from his wife. He simply shrugged and said, "Hey, it is what it is, love. I think our kids need to know as well."

Aoi gave her mom a suspicious look and said, "You promised you wouldn't be prying into our lives anymore...right, mom?"

Kaoru gave her daughter an innocent smile, as she knew she had made quite the impression of being an overly protective mother on her children growing up. She had the Memory Processing Alice, and therefore was able to read memories from people or objects by simply touching them. In the past, she used her Alice on her children's stationery to see how they were doing academically in school, which of course led to her children complaining badly after they found out.

"Rest assured, my dear. I have retired from secretly stalking you two. In return, I'd rather ask you in person about your life updates."

The young Hyuuga heiress nodded, "Deal. Don't break your promise, mom."

Kaoru shifted her gaze to her only son and casually asked, "How about you, Natsume? How are you? How's Mikan doing?"

Hearing his mom's question, Natsume almost choked on his water and immediately replied, "Why is everyone so interested in Mikan?" He was surprised that everyone seemed to like her so much, even though they've only heard stories from mostly Ruka. A part of him was suspicious, but another part of him was actually relieved.

Aoi simply giggled while Ioran gave him a look, "She's your first partner in the Academy, Natsume. Of course we're all interested to hear about her."

"You know what, we should invite her to dinner sometimes," Kaoru smiled and took a sip of her chrysanthemum tea. "I would love to meet her in person and get to know her more."

"I second that! What a wonderful idea, mom."

"Should we book a reservation in _Migliore_ next week? A golfing friend of mine recommended me their pasta dishes, _and_ they have beautiful night view from their top-floor balcony too."

Natsume watched in disbelief as his whole family plotted the dinner plan without even asking his opinion. The firecaster slowly massaged his temple in frustration, "For heaven's sake, she's my Alice Partner, _not_ my girlfriend. Don't you think it's a little weird for her to meet you guys?"

"Pfft, probably not as weird as our dinner with Luna- _nee_ ," Aoi chirped and immediately received a glare from her Nii-san.

"Natsume dear, we happen to know her parents before they passed away, they were once part of the Elites too. Yuka and Izumi were wonderful people, and we would like to get to know their daughter as well. Especially now that she became your partner." Kaoru said carefully while looking at her husband who nodded in approval.

The raven-haired lad glanced at his parents, as he could feel that they weren't telling him the whole truth. "Were you two close with her parents? It's so weird that I've never heard you mentioned about her or the Yukihiras before."

Kaoru squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, while Ioran answered, "We were close, but after they passed away, we never saw Mikan anymore. She was taken care of by her relatives and moved to another city."

"Have I ever met her before?"

"When you were very small, yes, but perhaps you wouldn't remember by now," Kaoru quickly lied, however with a sad look on her face. Again, she glanced at her husband for support, and he gave her an encouraging nod. This was the consequences of their actions in the past. Now, they had to keep up with their lies and fabricated the truth until the time was right.

"Maybe that's why I feel she looked familiar when I first saw her," Natsume mumbled while Ioran cleared his throat instead.

"Anyway, Natsume, please ask Mikan to join us for dinner next Saturday. I'll reserve a table for us in _Migliore_ at 7 p.m."

Feeling slightly defeated, Natsume simply complied as he knew nothing could change his parents' mind once they both collectively decided on something. A small part of him was curious about Mikan Yukihira as well. He couldn't deny that she had been on his mind lately. Perhaps the dinner could provide him an insight on whether his parents really had been keeping secrets from him.

"Sure, I'll ask if she's available that day."

Kaoru clasped her hands merrily and said, "I'm looking forward to it."

Even though she looked cheerful, Kaoru took her time to sit in front of her dressing table after the lunch was over. She stared at the white table top where a silver frame was neatly placed in the corner. A picture of her and Yuka was there. They were both wearing Alice Academy uniforms, as Academy members were required to wear matching uniforms during Assemblies back in the days. She was hugging the brunette from behind, their black blazers were wrinkled but they had huge smiles plastered on their faces. The picture was taken after they both passed the final test to officially be full time Quest members.

Perhaps one day, she could told Natsume and Mikan the story, and reminisce the memory together.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N**

Hi folks, this chapter has a somber tone to it somehow, which is pretty much reflective of how I've been feeling lately. For the past few weeks, I had been so busy with what they call "real-life" responsibilities, and it was really hard for me to make time for other things, including writing. I recently noticed that May is the mental health awareness month, which is a big reminder for me to start prioritizing my health and my well being in general.

Even though I really enjoy updating the story every 2 weeks, I realized that this would not be feasible for the next month or so. Sadly, I have to announce that my next update would be postponed as late as end of June :(

Thank you for everyone who enjoyed reading and supported the story so far. I will try my best to update the story sooner, if possible.

Side note: Remember that your mental health is equally as important as your physical health. If you need to take the time to take care of yourself mentally, please do not hesitate to do so!

.

Last but not least, here's a reply to the anon reviewer from my previous chapter;

Ascy \- I'm glad you found the chapter relatable as well! I really appreciate what you said about the story, thank you :)


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